Walk a Mile
by brown phantom
Summary: NEW POLL! It's said you never truly know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Two young ninja are about to go even further and learn more than they ever expected to.
1. Chapter 1

It was late afternoon in Konoha, the sun was bright, the wind was gentle and soothing, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The shops were open, and people were walking happily in the streets with a smile on their face or without a care in the world. They had a new Hokage in office and the structure of the village had been repaired from the Suna-Oto invasion not too long ago.

Yes, in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, everything seemed to be perfect.

However, even in a village such a Konoha, there dwelled sinister people, people whose thoughts and plans would only result in harm to all but themselves. Or at least, no intentional harm to themselves that is.

One such person was about to do something that would forever affect the lives of two innocents.

"At last! With this in my hands I will finally obtain the lifestyle I deserve." A rather wicked voice said like a bad guy cliché. "Oh it's going to be sweet, having everything done _for_ me rather than _by_ me. Not to mention being young again."

This person then looked at the object they held in their hands. They held it with the carefulness one would give a fragile newborn child, however their eyes stared at it with a look of a hungry dog.

"Getting a hold of this sure wasn't easy. It took a lot of ryo and three months of waiting, but with all the loose ends covered, no one should suspect a thing. But I better make one small adjustment to ensure it works as planned."

Taking a brush and dipping it in a ink well, this person wrote someone's name on the object in question before they pocketed it. "There, now to go out and get what I want."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto, the town's infamous blonde-haired prankster, raced through the crowded streets, moving past all the people so to not run into them.

"Scuse me, coming through, on your side, thank you." Naruto said as he dodged several villagers.

He continued this until after five minutes of dodging villagers, until finally he saw his target. The girl he had tried to get to be his girlfriend since he was a little kid.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I got a question for ya." Naruto said as he approached his teammate.

"Naruto I'm not going to go on a date with you." She told him quite firmly.

"No not that. What I meant was does this belong to you?" He said as he held up a white scroll with black ends.

"No. Why? Where'd you find it?"

"Just lying on the ground. It was near our training grounds. I thought maybe one of us dropped it." The blonde explained.

"Well it's not mine. Maybe it's Sasuke-kuns." Sakura suggested.

"Could be, the teme probably is dumb enough to leave something like this behind while he's busy brooding." Naruto offhandedly commented.

As expected, the young pinkette got really mad. Mad enough that her eyes were a pure hot white with a shadow covering them and a dark blue flame could be seen around her as she clenched her fists at her side and a tick mark could be seen on her forehead. "NA-RU-TO!"

"Oh crap!" was the entire aforementioned boy said before running like a frightened rabbit.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sakura yelled as she gave chase, intending to beat the Uzumaki five feet into the ground.

Before long, but not before Sakura lost track of him, Naruto turned a corner and bumped right into someone. Hard. Both fell down onto the ground, hitting their rears quite hard too.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going kid!" The other person said, their eyes clenched shut as they rubbed their sore spots.

"So sorry. I didn't see you there." Naruto said before getting back up. He looked down and saw he had dropped his scroll and picked it back up before running away from Sakura again.

After who knows how long, Naruto managed to lose her. That girl was nearly relentless when it came to chasing him down. When he was sure he lost her he stopped in an alley to catch his breath.

"Damn, Sakura-chan sure gets crazy when she's mad." He then looked at the scroll in his hands. "And I still don't know who this belon-" He stopped when he noticed something new, a name written on the scroll. "Huh? But I know there wasn't anything written on it before."

It read 'Hyuuga Hinata'

"Hinata? This belongs to her. But I'm positive this scroll was blank when I found it." He told himself before thinking about how this could be explained. "Wait! I know! That person I bumped into must have been carrying a scroll like the one I had to give to Hinata, and I picked this one up by mistake. Whoops. I guess I might as well go give this to Hinata then. If I can find her that is."

In all honesty, he did not know that much about the Hyuuga girl. He knew the basics like where she lived, and her age, but beyond that he knew nothing else about her.

"Hmmm well she can't be that hard to find. I hope." He said as he took off from the alleyway to find Hinata.

* * *

The Hyuuga heiress was leaning against a tree, waiting for her team to arrive. _'Where are they? They've never been late before.'_ She thought as she looked back and forth, expecting see Shino and Kiba come running up and greeting her. But no such luck.

Hinata sighed. She hoped that she had gotten the time right. Perhaps they had already left for the training ground without her. She was half-tempted to go down there and see if that was the case when-

"Hey Hinata!" Naruto's easily recognized voice called out.

"Huh?" Hinata asked as she turned to see her crush coming towards her waving his arm to get her attention.

Blushing, she resisted the urge to hide behind the tree. "Oh, Na-Naruto-kun. Wh-wh-what brings y-you here?" She said timidly as she poked her fingers together.

"I found this. I think it belongs to you." He said, holding out the scroll with her name on it.

"What is it?" She asked, staring at the scroll, with a raised brow.

"I don't know, but it has your name on it."

"Where did you get it?" The Hyuuga asked.

"I bumped into a person, and I accidentally took this one and they took the one I had. When I saw your name I assumed that it either belonged to you or was meant for you." He answered.

Curious, Hinata reached out and grabbed it. But once she placed her hand on it, both she and Naruto felt an incredible shock of pain. It was like being struck by lightning, except it was cold.

Both of them dropped the scroll and clutched themselves, trying to resist a growing sensation of cold pressure and blindness. They also felt a massive headache come. It was if someone was hammering the inside of their skulls. But, fortunately all of the effects faded as quickly as it came, but it certainly had an impact on them.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes, which were sore from the pressure he had felt in his skull.

"Naruto-kun, are you ok?" Hinata asked, keeping her eyes shut while she massaged her temples.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered and opened his eyes and blinked a few times. But when he did, instead of seeing Hinata, he saw... Naruto?

"Huh? What the? I didn't make a clone?" Then he noticed something new. "And what's with my voice? This isn't my voice. It's... girly."

"Naruto-kun?" The Naruto in front of him asked before he looked at him. "What? But... how? Wh-who are you and why do you look like me?" The clone said as he pointed at the real Naruto, and then the clone grabbed its throat, its eyes suddenly becoming wide. "This... this isn't _my_ voice."

Naruto looked at his hands and saw they were smaller and the sleeves were beige instead of orange. "What the hell is going on?" He then looked down at himself, and saw he was wearing Hinata's jacket. "Why am I wearing Hinata's jacket?"

"N-Naruto-kun, is... is that you?" The Naruto in front of him asked.

"Yeah, I'm Naruto, but who are you?" He asked. "Wait, did I create a clone without realizing it?"

"No Naruto-kun, I... I'm Hinata."

"Wait, so that means... I'm you and you're me?"

Both of them stared at each other for a few moments, and then both bodies fell into the ground, unconscious from the shock of the experience.

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?" The person who bumped into Naruto said as they tore open the scroll. This was not the scroll they had worked so hard to get. This was a poster scroll of some naked woman, who had autographed it to… Kakashi.

The person who had been hiding in an alley outside the Hyuuga compound surpassed a scream of rage that was building up in their lungs as they ripped the poster in half. Nostrils flared while the individual tried to remember how they could have-

It was then that their eyes widened so much it looked like they were going to pop out of their skulls. "THAT BLONDE-HAIRED KID?"

When they had bumped into each other, the blonde must have switched scrolls on accident.

If that kid opened up the scroll… then everything was ruined, all the months of planning and work would be lost.

The person dropped the torn poster onto the ground and walked slowly out of the alley, a change had occurred in the plan. Now they had to find the blonde and get the scroll back before it was opened. Or worse... activated.

* * *

It took about ten minutes for Naruto and Hinata to wake up. When they did, they were almost sure that it had all been a dream and that they were back in their own bodies. But when they saw that they were still looking at themselves, they realized that it was not a fantasy but a reality.

"Oh Kami-sama, we switched bodies!" Naruto in Hinata's body said, and looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the knowledge he had become a girl without using the Sexy Jutsu.

And Hinata did not seem to be faring much better on her own end. She looked at her hands, Naruto's hands and felt her face, Naruto's face. "H-h-how c-co-could this have ha-happened?" She asked in the blonde's voice.

It was then that they realized… THE SCROLL!

They immediately got up and started looking around trying to find the roll of parchment, thinking maybe there was something written on it that might explain what had happened. But when they finally looked at the spot where it had fallen, all they saw was a small pile of ashes.

"Oh no." Hinata said as she dug Naruto's hands into the ashes, and looked up at her former body. "What are we g-going to do now Naruto-kun?" she said, although she found it weird saying that now.

Naruto stood there for a moment, trying to think of a plan and then it him… or her; he was not sure of that just yet.

"We've got see Tsunade-baa-chan."

* * *

The Godaime Hokage let out a long dramatic groan as she stared at the huge pile of paperwork that was on her desk. She had been working since early this morning and still had not made a dent in the amounts she had left.

"Don't I have people to do this crap for me?" She asked her faithful assistant Shizune who was putting away the files that had already been finished.

The dark-haired women turned to Tsunade as she answered. "You do, and this is all the work that they have finished, all that is required of you is to read and sign them. If they deserve to be signed that is, after you read them for yourself."

Tsunade let out another groan "But it is all so boring, just a bunch of normal stuff. Diplomatic offers, trade agreements, mission assignments, blah blah blah. It all just becomes a blur to me after awhile. Tell me, why did I take this boring job again?"

"Because we had nowhere else to go, nothing to do, and debtors hounding after you." Shizune responded. And from her basket next to Tsunade's desk, the pig Tonton oinked her agreement. "And even though you won't admit it, you'd miss Naruto if you left."

"Oh yeah, well it could be worse I suppose." She said as she sipped her sake.

Then her desk intercom came on. "Tsunade-sama, Uzumaki Naruto and Hinata Hyuuga are here to speak to you. Shall I let them in?"

"And it just got worse." The older woman said as she pressed the button on the intercom. "Yes, send them up." Tsunade leaned back in her seat. "I swear, if that little gaki calls me Baa-chan I am going to send him through the window."

"No you're not." Shizune said as the door opened, and in stepped Naruto and Hinata.

And then something happened that Tsunade did not expect. Hinata, a girl she had so far known to be a quite and shy type walked right up to her desk and planted her hands on it firmly. "Baa-chan, we need your help." The Hyuuga said, her voice sounding very bold.

Tsunade sent a murderous glare at the Uzumaki. "Naruto have you been telling people to call me that?" And much to her surprise, Naruto flinched and looked scared, which caused Tsunade to become confused.

Hinata slammed her hands on Tsunades desk. "No, that is not Naruto. _I'm_ Naruto and that is Hinata. We have switched bodies."

There was silence in the room.

"Alright, is this some kind of joke? Are the two of you trying to mess with me?" The lady Hokage asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No Hokage-sama, it is the truth. Naruto-kun and I have... sw-switched bodies."

That was enough to win Tsunade over, since the real Naruto would never, ever call her 'Hokage-sama'.

"Alright. Please start from the beginning." She asked.

Both the genin explained the situation, from Naruto getting the scroll to Hinata taking it as he handed it to her, and the two of them ending up in each others bodies.

Tsunade and Shizune listened to their story and when it was finished, Tsunade sat there for a moment and then got up from her chair and walked over to a pile of books. She began tossing a few of them around looking for something in particular, and while she was looking she spoke. "I have heard about this kind of thing before, because Orochimaru developed something exactly like what you have described."

"That creepy snake guy who attacked Sasuke and killed the Old Man during the Chunnin Exams?" Naruto asked in Hinata's voice.

Tsunade nodded as she looked at one book and then tossed it aside. "Yes, this was before he left the village and was still a loyal Leaf Shinobi. He had developed a type of body switching jutsu, one that could be used as a substitute for henge transformations. A Konoha ninja could hand a scroll to an enemy from another village, the two of them switch bodies and the Konoha nin goes back to the other village and gathers intel, while the other stays a captive."

"Did... did we actually do something like that?" Hinata in Naruto's body asked, her timid tone sounded so unnatural with Naruto's voice.

"I hope not, because the village council rejected the idea. The Yamanakas were deeply offended at seeing someone else try to recreate their techniques for themselves. I remember because that pale-skinned bastard was extremely pissed off. He said the council was suppressing genius and talent. Which it was, I will admit that, given how they rejected my proposal for more medic nin training. Anyway, the scroll was even designed to self-destruct once the switch had taken place so there would be no evidence left behind." She finally found the book she had been looking for, one that listed all of the information about the scroll that had been presented to the council on the day Orochimaru had presented it.

"Well, are the effects permanent?" Naruto asked, crossing his/Hinata's arms.

Tsunade flipped through several pages until she found the one that could answer the question. "Well it seems a second scroll could be used to reverse the effects, but since we don't have one readily available..." She paused while she flipped to the next page. " Aha! It says that the effects are not permanent."

Both Hinata and Naruto smiled, thinking that they would soon be able to switch back. However their happiness soon faded when Tsunade added more. "It seems to vary with each scroll how long the switch lasts without a second scroll to switch back. This was one of the reasons it was rejected. But without the actual scroll here to tell us, there's no way of knowing. You could switch back within the hour, by tomorrow morning, or… even three years."

"THREE YEARS?" Both the Uzumaki and the Hyuuga shouted in unison.

Tsunade sadly nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid it could take that long. According to this, the Sandaime Hokage, my old sensei, recorded that Orochimaru had plans to use this scroll as his way of staying young and alive forever. After all, all you have to do is get two people to touch it, and they switch bodies. Orochimaru could easily use it to take someone's body for himself and then kill off the other so there could be no switch-back."

"So does that mean that if one of them were to die then the other would be stuck like this forever?" Shizune asked, making the two genin worry.

"It's possible, but not a guarantee." Tsunade said. "Remember, Orochimaru is currently using a jutsu to take over someone else's body when he wants and keep it for three years before he needs another. Why would he do that over using these switching scrolls if he was the one who produced them? There must be some sort of flaw in the scroll's design that he didn't like and couldn't change. Maybe it's the time limit and his current method lasts longer. Or maybe... if one dies, both die."

"Why would that happen?" Naruto in Hinata's body asked.

"I don't know. There's not much written here that can confirm much. It's mostly speculation. But it does say the project was scraped and it's been proven that Orochimaru does not use the scrolls himself even though he's the one who made them. I can't say for certain what the terms and conditions of this switch are for you two. All I can say is that eventually you two will return to normal, but that can't happen if one of you dies."

Seeing their discomfort, Tsunade sighed and continued. "Look you two, I'll try my damnedest to find out everything I can to let you know what to expect of this. With any luck, you'll be back to normal tomorrow at the latest. But just in case I'm wrong, please keep to yourselves and try to help each other out. Also, I recommend not telling anyone what happened."

"But why not?" Both asked.

"Because there's more to this than either of you think." The Hokage told them. "Remember, this project was abandoned by the village and even Orochimaru. So why was a working scroll still around? Why did someone have it on them? Where did they get it from? How did they get it? Did they know what it was for? Did they plan on using it? And why was Hinata's name written on it?"

Both genin paled and looked at each other after hearing this. Naruto in Hinata's body then looked at Tsunade. "Does this mean someone may have been trying to take Hinata's body for themselves? Why would anyone do that?"

"Well she is heiress to the biggest clan in Konoha right now. Maybe they wanted to have her lifestyle or influence. Did you get a good look at the person who you bumped into?" Tsunade asked.

"No, sadly I didn't. Sakura-chan was chasing me down trying to beat my brains out so I had other things on my mind. I did see they were an adult around Kakashi-sensei's age, maybe older, and wearing white, and I think it was a woman, but I don't remember anything else."

"Well that doesn't really narrow down our list of suspects, but I suppose it's a start." Tsunade said, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she gasped and opened them again, looking frightened. "Oh crap! Naruto, did you-know-what switch too?"

"Uhh... I don't know. How do we tell?"

"Lift up your shirt." Tsunade told him/her. Naruto immediately lifted up the jacket and the shirt, but pulled them up too high and ended up showing off the bra-covered chest that originally belonged to Hinata. "Naruto, you're not a boy right now. You got to be more careful with what you show off."

Naruto meanwhile blushed. "Damn Hinata where do you hide these things?"

Hinata in Naruto's body blushed and fainted at knowing Naruto could see her chest anytime he wanted now. Too bad she didn't yet realize she meant she could now be as free with his body.

"Naruto, just because it's your body for now doesn't mean you could do whatever you want with it." Tsunade sternly told the young boy trapped in a young girl's body. And this time that wasn't a metaphor for the gender-confused.

Naruto as Hinata looked confused. "What are you talking about Baa-chan?" He sounded like he honestly didn't get what she had been implying.

"I'm saying don't take advantage of it."

"Take advantage?" Naruto asked, even more confused now.

_'Is he really that simple-minded?'_ The slug sannin asked herself. 'Naruto... boy is it weird calling you that when you have Hinata's face. Anyway, this body, is a young girl's body, and you're a young boy. Do you have any idea what a different boy would do in your situation?" All she saw was a continued confused expression. "Most boys would go somewhere private, take off all the clothes, and look at the girl's naked body all they want. And they'd probably do more than look too."

"Why? That's just wrong and I'm no pervert." Naruto asked.

"So you're telling me you're not even a little curious to see what Hinata looks like without her clothes on?" Tsunade asked.

"No, never. I'm not a pervert!"

"But Naruto, like I said, you may be like this for a long time. How are you going to keep Hinata's body clean if you refuse to look at it?"

"I'm not a pervert!" Naruto simply repeated like that solved everything.

"I'm not saying you are. I'm just telling you a fact." Tsunade said, then out of the corner of her eye she saw Hinata in Naruto's body slowly sit back up. "What do you think would bother Hinata more? You seeing her body naked, or you refusing to take care of it until she gets it back?"

Naruto, seeing Tsunade's point, nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright then." The Hokage said as she walked back and sat down at her desk. "Now then, I suggest that the two of you start filling each other in on information, because until we get this matter straightened out, you will be living each others lives."

"Are you c-certain that's wise? Wha-what if w-we... we can't?" Hinata in Naruto's body asked.

"We have to try. Hinata, someone had access to something thought to be completely destroyed and wanted to use it against you. What do you think they'll do after they realize they no longer have it? Do you think they'll drop interest? No, they won't. If anything they may try something again. Maybe they even have a second scroll they'll try to use. So I have another order for you two, don't accept anything from ANYBODY unless it's handed to you by me or each other. And Naruto, it would be wise to tell Hinata your secret."

"What? No way Baa-chan! That's ridiculous! My own team doesn't even know!"

"Naruto, the seal didn't appear on Hinata's body, so that means you-know-what is still in yours. Do you want Hinata to find out on her own? And what if she can't control it because you didn't tell her about it?" Tsunade told him, and saw he still wasn't convinced. "If you don't, I will. But hearing it from you would be better for her."

Naruto sighed and hung Hinata's head down in shame before looking back at the girl in his rightful body. "Hinata, I don't know how to say this delicately so I'll just say it plainly. The Kyuubi wasn't killed, it was sealed away inside me. And it's still there, so now, it's inside you."

Hinata gasped. "It... it was sealed away? Inside you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sadly nodded._ 'That look on her... MY face, was that how I looked when I found out?'_ "It's why everyone hates me and calls me a monster."

"But you're not." Hinata said, surprising Naruto. "You're no monster Naruto-kun. You're the nicest, bravest person I know. The fact that you're in my body and it isn't, only proves the two of you aren't the same thing."

"You're... you're not afraid?" Naruto asked.

Hinata shook Naruto's head. "Of you, never. The only thing I'm afraid of in this is that I won't be able to contain the Kyuubi as well as you have. I'm... I'm not st-strong, not like you Naruto-kun. I... I can't do this wi-without you."

"Yes you can Hinata. I know you can. I did it for years without knowing it and I wanted to give up many times. I know you're stronger than that." Naruto claimed, holding onto what used to be his shoulders to emphasize his point.

_'Naruto-kun... thank you.'_ Hinata told herself before passing out from the close contact and praise.

"Hinata? Hinata? What's wrong? How can you be sick in my body? I know I wasn't." He naively asked.

_'Oh boy. This is going to be fun.'_ Tsunade told herself.


	2. Chapter 2

_To avoid confusing references from this point on, Naruto in Hinata's body will be referred to as N-Hinata, and Hinata in Naruto's body will be referred to as H-Naruto. This way you know who's talking but you also know whose voice and face to have in your minds. In dialogue, the characters will be addressed as who the other person thinks they are._

"As long as we don't know who's behind this problem, we'll never find out all we need to know. And if they find out you've used the scroll, they'll cover their tracks to ensure we never find out. So we need to convince everyone else you two are who you look like. To do that, you two need a few nights to get to know each other better and fill the other in. I'll give you two a cover so hurry and get somewhere where you can be alone."

Those words from Tsunade were the reason H-Naruto and N-Hinata were now in his apartment sitting on his couch.

Both were highly uncomfortable, for differing reasons. N-Hinata was uncomfortable because he was not used to having company and knew his residence was not the best place to bring them even if he did. His apartment was actually better than many gave it credit for, usually picturing an infested hole in a wall when they thought of it, but it wasn't. Sure, it wasn't well furnished and needed patchwork in multiple places, but it was livable. H-Naruto meanwhile was uncomfortable because she had a hard time believing she really was in her crush's home alone with him and the two of them needed to share personal stuff about them. Part of her was excited that Naruto had to learn more about her, because that meant there was a chance he'd grow to like her more, but part of her feared he wouldn't like what he found out.

They had been quiet for a bit and N-Hinata had never been a fan of long silences like this. "So Hinata...?"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun?"

_'It feels so weird looking at my own face and calling it by his/her name.'_ Both thought to themselves.

"Would you like to go first or would you rather I do that instead?" N-Hinata asked, hoping this would feel less uncomfortable once they stopped delaying and got started on what they needed to do.

"Uh... wh-why don't y-you go fir-first? I'd pr-probably take too long." H-Naruto answered.

_'It's so weird seeing myself stutter and fidget like this._' N-Hinata thought. "Hinata, are you afraid of me?"

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Because you look so scared right now and I'm the only one here."

"I... I'm not sc-scared Naruto-kun. I hope... I don't want you to be upset with me."

"Huh? Why would I be upset with you?"

"Because I g-got you dragged in-into this."

"No you didn't." N-Hinata countered. "Someone else came up with this idea and we just happened to get involved. It's not your fault."

"And it's not your fault either."

Naruto sighed. "Then why are we both blaming ourselves?"

"I g-guess we just f-feel bad for the o-other. It's un-understandable."

N-Hinata sighed and shifted to get more comfortable. "Well Hinata, what would you like to know about me?"

"Umm... wha-what are the sort of thing you u-usually do around town?" She had a good idea what he did given her habit of following him, but she wasn't going to tell him that just yet.

"Well I like going to Ichiraku's when I can, and some of the vacant training grounds, and when I want to be alone... maybe I should keep that to myself." N-Hinata answered.

H-Naruto blushed slightly, trying not to imagine what Naruto did when he was alone, but failed. N-Hinata saw this and was confused. "Hinata, why are you always red so much? It's weird how your face is always red even when it's now _my_ face, and this whole time I've been in your body I've never seen my-your face turn red."

"Na-Naruto-kun, I... I just blush a lot, is all."

"Why?" N-Hinata plainly yet curiously asked.

"I..." H-Naruto started, not sure how to answer that without revealing too much. As much as she wanted to tell her crush her feelings, she worried that today was not the right day to admit it. Naruto had been thru a lot today and he didn't need more to stress him out. "I... just get nervous easily. I worry that you... don't like me."

N-Hinata blinked twice. "Why would you think that?"

"Probably for the same reason you feared I would hate for when you told me about Kyuubi. We're both so used to being put down we've come to expect it even from those close to us." H-Naruto said.

"Hinata, who puts you down?" N-Hinata asked. "Why would anyone insult a nice girl like you?"

"You'd be surprised Naruto-kun." H-Naruto said quietly, as if whispering to herself.

* * *

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Both Kakashi and Kurenai said together in Tsunade's office.

"Both Hinata and Naruto have switched bodies by accident." The female Hokage said. "I know it's hard to accept, but somebody in Konoha had possession of something contraband and thought to be eliminated, and it ended up in the hands of Naruto and Hinata. The result of which is that the two have now taken on the body of the other for an indeterminate amount of time."

Kakashi and Kurenai were silent as they took this in. Initially they didn't want to believe this, but for what reason would the hokage fabricate this? Such a claim could easily be proven wrong. With that in mind, the only reasonable explanation was that somehow what she said was true.

"How could such a thing happen Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.

"You both are probably too young to remember it, but my old teammate tried to create his own version of the Yamanaka possession skills so he could likely stay young forever. The project was destroyed and abandoned by even Orochimaru himself, but apparently not all the tools for the job were destroyed too. Someone in Konoha managed to get ahold of a scroll that forces two people touching it at the same time to temporarily switch bodies. It ended up in Naruto and Hinata's hands and they unknowingly activated it."

"How long does the switch last?" Kakashi asked.

"It's impossible to say. I'm still going over the reports on the project and have yet to find any indicator. All I do know is it's temporary and if Orochimaru prefers his current method of stealing bodies then this switch is likely to last only three years at max."

"Three years?" Both jounin repeated.

Tsunade snickered. "Those two kids reacted the same way. Rest assured, that's only a theorized maximum amount of time, not the most likely solution. A more reasonable amount to expect is anywhere from twenty-four hours to even a week. But don't quote me on that."

"So what do we do?" Kurenai questioned.

Tsunade sighed and relaxed in her chair. "For now, there's little we can do. I don't like the fact that someone somehow managed to get ahold of one of these switch scrolls and intended to use one on Hinata. According to Naruto, he accidentally took the scroll thinking it was his after bumping into someone, and the one he got after that incident had Hinata's name on it. This can only mean someone was hoping to switch places with the heiress to the Hyuuga, and likely take advantage of her position."

Kurenai nodded in understanding. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who would do that. But how would they be able to impersonate Hinata? Her personality is quite distinguished to those that know her."

"Maybe they weren't trying to impersonate Hinata. Maybe someone from the Hyuuga planned this." Tsunade thought out loud. "I find it hard to believe this whole thing was done by one person. It's more likely that two or more were in on this in an attempt to gain influence with the Hyuuga, and that implies one of them already has a connection to the Hyuuga."

"Hinata is part of the Main House. Maybe a Branch House member wanted to take her place." Kurenai suggested.

"I thought that too. However there's a flaw in it." Tsunade replied. "While Hinata is supposed to be the heiress, her position and inheritance has been threatened for years from what I've heard. Hiashi has told me he's hoping being an active ninja will break her out of her shell and allow her to become a proper leader, but he did warn me that some Hyuuga feel such a thing is a waste of time and are looking for any reason to brand her with the seal. Hinata is too much at risk for an already-sealed Hyuuga to consider her safe for this. If anything, they'd be more likely to target Hiashi's other daughter."

"Unless they were certain they could get away with masquerading as Hinata but ensure she stayed unsealed." Kakashi added.

"Maybe. Either way, the fact is someone was in possession of an illegal object with plans to use it. This person ended up unable to complete their objection due to Naruto being at the right place and the right time. But there's no way this person or persons is going to just forget their plan and act like nothing happened. It's likely they will try someone new against Hinata. They may even have a second scroll to use."

"So what do we do? Wait for them to act?" Kurenai asked.

"I'd rather we don't, but there's no way of knowing what's going on until we catch them and we have no leads on who's involved. All Naruto can remember of the person he bumped into was they were wearing white. His teammate was apparently intending on giving him a merciless beating so his mind was occupied with getting away."

Kakashi mentally sighed. _'Sakura, you've got to learn to control your impulses.'_

"We need to ensure Hinata and Naruto are kept out of danger, but don't draw attention to themselves. Whoever's behind this is likely to observe Hinata to see if anything has happened to her, and if they learn someone has taken her body they will hide their tracks and/or make another effort to take her body. And if they learn Naruto's involved there's no telling what they'll do."

Kakashi and Kurenai nodded. "Agreed. If they thought he was a threat they'd likely have little qualm getting rid of him." The cycloptic jounin stated, then grew worried as something crossed his mind. "Hokage-sama, you said that Hinata's mind is now in Naruto's body. So where is the Kyuubi?" Kurenai looked worried at this question too.

"I already checked for that. The seal is still in place on Naruto's stomach, but that means that Hinata now has to deal with the fox. She has already been informed and does not think ill of Naruto of his burden."

_'I don't think she could hate him even if her life depended on it.'_ Kurenai told herself.

"But is Hinata's will strong enough to handle the burden?" Kakashi asked.

"We can only hope so, but I suspect if she gets help from Naruto she will find it much easier to." Tsunade answered.

"That may require time we don't have and a lot of time for them to be together that will be hard to justify to any who ask." Kurenai pointed out.

"Which is why we need to make time by getting those two away from everyone else so we can ensure nothing will happen to them." Tsunade stated. "The fact is we don't know how long these two are going to be stuck like this, so to avoid exposing their situation and making things worse for them and us, they need to learn how to act like the other and trust each other completely. So I need you two to take them somewhere outside the village for a while, a week at least, and help them adjust. I'll keep your other students occupied to reduce suspicions. I'm thinking a joint mission under a new sensei."

"Couldn't one of us do it instead?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "Not a good idea. Naruto and Hinata both need someone they can count one and who better than you two?"

"I'm willing to help, but Naruto better keep his hand off of Hinata's body." Kurenai stated.

"That's not going to be possible Kurenai." The hokage told the genjutsu expert. "Like I said, we don't know how long this will last. Sooner or later Naruto and Hinata will have to see their new bodies naked, for cleaning and maintaining it if nothing else. How do you expect them to wash up? Blindfolded and shackled while someone else scrubs them? They're not prisoners. Besides, Naruto is apparently so uneducated regarding sexual topics that he doesn't even seem to realize there's an upside to the matter."

"That's impossible. He is a boy after all." Kurenai countered.

Tsunade looked like she wanted to break something. "Dammit Kurenai, I'm counting on you to be a professional here, not a misandrist! Hinata is not the only one who needs guidance and reassurance here. Naruto does too and he deserves it no less. What if it was one of your male students who was in this?"

Kurenai didn't answer right away, and when she did she crossed her arms. "Hokage-sama, I don't hate men for being men. I hate it when men cannot control their lusts. Fortunately Shino has no problem there and Kiba's mother and sister have already made sure Kiba doesn't let his urges control him or affect him on the field. But Naruto, who's never been guided in a good way, AND was taught by your perverted teammate, I don't have as much faith regarding."

Tsunade frowned and slowly rose from her seat. "Allow me to inform you Kurenai, that during Naruto's time with Jiraiya he never once listened to anything 'perverted' the peeper told him. I know this because I was with them for a week on my way back to Konoha and heard from both what happened between them while I wasn't there. Jiraiya did try to teach Naruto about the facts of life, but Naruto absolutely refused to listen even once. And today when I saw him and Hinata, he sounded like he was genuinely unaware that he even could do something to Hinata's body. I don't know why, but that young boy is completely ignorant of these matters."

"Then how do you explain that degrading Sexy Jutsu of his?" Kurenai asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? As a ninja, you should know it's better to get answers from the source than just assume what they are."

Kurenai couldn't argue that. "Fine."

Tsunade then turned to Kakashi. "What about you Kakashi? Are you going to prove difficult here?"

"It's not that I don't want to help here Hokage-sama, but more that I don't think I'd be effective here." The silver-haired jounin said. "If Naruto is in a girl's body, there's not much I can inform him of compared to what a woman like Kurenai here could. And if he refused to listen to a word from Jiraiya, I have no reason to believe he'd listen to me instead on the same subject. The best I could do is damage control. Not to mention I still need to help Sasuke get his anger under control."

"I know someone who could take your place for a short time. Someone who might be able to get thru to him as well as help the others on both teams." Tsunade stated.

"Who?" Both jounins asked.

"Let me see if they're available first and willing before I make any promises." The slug sannin told them. "Now, you two get some rest and think up what you're going to tell your two students. Come back here tomorrow at 9:00 AM. If you're late by even one minute Kakashi so help me I'll demote you back to chuunin. When you're here, Naruto and Hinata will be too. Pack for a week long trip out of the village, I'll tell you the destination tomorrow. Tell no one of this."

Both jounin looked displeased by this but neither objected. "Yes Hokage-sama."

Tsunade called out before they left the room. "And before you complain too much about how uncomfortable you two feel now, remember how uncomfortable Naruto and Hinata must be."

* * *

H-Naruto and N-Hinata were currently eating dinner. Rather than force Hinata to eat ramen, N-Hinata ordered out for pizza. There was a place in Konoha that didn't mind delivering to him so he enjoyed this food too, though nothing could replace the feeling he got from eating at Ichiraku's.

"You really never had this before?" N-Hinata asked his guest.

H-Naruto shook her head/Naruto's head. "No. I usually eat homemade meals. Sometimes I eat with my team at restaurants, but I never heard of a place that actually brings food to you if you call them and tell them what you want."

"Well go ahead and enjoy it. This is pretty good."

H-Naruto picked up a slice. N-Hinata ordered pepperoni since H-Naruto didn't answer his question for what toppings she wanted. He was halfway thru his first slice. "It looks a li-little greasy, but if y-you like it..." She slowly took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. "Hmm... not bad. It's different than anything else I've eaten, but..." She paused to take another bite. "I like it."

"Of course you do. That's my tongue you're eating with." N-Hinata commented with a smirk.

H-Naruto blushed. "Umm... Na-Naruto-kun, since Hokage-sama told us both to... to st-stay here t-to-tonight..." Her blush deepened. "H-how are w-we going to handle t-the sl-sleeping arrangements?"

N-Hinata thought it over for a brief second. "Well, I remember hearing somewhere that the girl gets the bed and the boy gets the couch, but..." He paused to motion to both of them. "That kinda doesn't apply to us right now. Though since I am the rightful boy here, I can take the couch and give you privacy."

H-Naruto looked a bit fidgety at the moment. "Umm... Naruto-kun, I... I d-don't th-think privacy w-will be a big problem for us." She saw N-Hinata was confused. "After all, I know what my body looks like and you know what your body looks like. So it's not like we h-have to... hi-hide them f-from each other now. The o-only ha-hard thing will be times like w-when we bathe."

"What do you-?" N-Hinata asked before he caught on. "Oh." He then put down the second slice he had been grabbing. "Hinata-chan, I promise you I will not be perverted with your body. It's bad enough you got involved in this, so I won't make it worse by doing something horrible to your body before you get it back."

"Thank you Naruto-kun, but don't forget what Hokage-sama said. You can't avoid at least looking at... your new body forever." H-Naruto told him. "Would you feel better if I... if I... told you I d-don't m-mind you s-seeing my body wi-without clothes?"

N-Hinata had wide eyes. "Really? But why? I thought girls never ever _ever_ wanted boys to see them naked."

"N-not until they're in l-l-love or m-married, most of the time." H-Naruto said, avoiding eye contact and wondering what the boy in her original body would say to that.

N-Hinata tilted his head, confused. "Why would that make a difference?"

H-Naruto widened her eyes. "You really don't understand?" Suddenly her heart ached for the boy she so greatly admired. Most people would call Naruto naive at best and retarded at worst, but she could tell what the real problem was. Naruto was ignorant, uneducated. He didn't know better because he had nothing and no one to learn from. How could Naruto know as much as other people if he had no way to learn anything? Other people in Konoha took for granted their sources of knowledge. Parents, fair teachers, books, social interactions, all the kind of things Naruto had limited access to if any to begin with, so they just lazily assumed he was just too dumb to know as much as them, never taking into account he was deprived of all this by the very people who mocked him.

Apparently one of the things he was most ignorant on was male-female interactions. Hinata could already tell that given his adamant denials that he would be perverted, but it was worst than she feared. That wasn't just about Naruto respecting her privacy; it was as if Naruto honestly and truly believed there was nothing good about anything that could be considered perverted. At that point this attitude was not noble, it was practically love-phobic. Why would Naruto want a girlfriend if he was afraid to show her this kind of affection?

With that in mind, H-Naruto had to ask something. "Na-Naruto-kun, don't you f-find girls attractive?"

"Yeah, of course Hinata-chan." N-Hinata answered, wondering why she asked him that.

"Then aren't you even a... a l-little cur-curious to see girls n-naked?"

"No because that's perverted."

H-Naruto sighed. "Naruto-kun, I don't know what taught you all this, but... there _are_ times w-when being 'perverted' as you say, is... is okay."

N-Hinata widened his eyes. "That's impossible."

H-Naruto shook her head. "No Naruto-kun, it isn't. There are times it isn't good to be perverted, but there are times it is acceptable."

N-Hinata arched an eyebrow, a gesture H-Naruto thought was weird to see on her old face. "Like when?"

_'How do I answer that without giving away any of my own secrets?'_ H-Naruto asked herself before getting an idea. "Like... when you have to w-wash my old body tonight. You do have to s-see it to know you got everything, and y-you c-can enjoy what you see. But I know you don't mean any harm to m-my body so I know I have no reason to be afraid of you. Fear is the thing that determines whether or not you're doing a bad thing."

N-Hinata still looked confused. "So... whether or not the girl dislikes it decides if it's good or bad?" H-Naruto nodded. "But why would any girl_ like_ it?"

"W-wouldn't you l-like it if a girl th-thought you were good-looking and wanted to see more of you?" H-Naruto asked.

N-Hinata thought it over. "I guess, but it wouldn't really mean anything if it was just any girl. If it was a girl I knew and liked, then it would feel better than just any girl looking for a peek. Then I'd feel like my privacy was being invaded."

"It's the same for girls Naruto-kun. We don't want lots of guys trying to peek at our bodies and... do more to them, but if it's one guy we do like, then we're not that upset by it. We might be embarrassed, but not angry. If we care for the boy, we feel flattered and loved. If we don't, we feel like our privacy was invaded."

N-Hinata looked like he was starting to understand. "I think I understand. So... if I ever did decide to take a peek at Sakura-chan in the hot springs and she caught me, she'd feel angry. But if it was Sasuke and she caught him, she'd be embarrassed, but not angry, more flattered. Is that right?"

H-Naruto nodded. "Yes, that's a good way to describe it Naruto-kun."

"So is there any boy you wouldn't get about seeing you Hinata-chan?" N-Hinata curiously asked.

H-Naruto blushed until it looked like she had no blood anywhere else in her current body. "Umm..." She did _not_ know how to answer that. "Na-Naruto-kun, y-you sh-shouldn't ask a girl that."

"Oh please forgive me Hinata-chan, it just popped into my mind." N-Hinata pleaded, his head lowered.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm not mad, j-just embarrassed."

_'Not mad, just embarrassed?'_ The words repeated in N-Hinata's mind. _'Hinata-chan said girls feel that way with boys they care for? Does that mean...?'_ He stopped himself from saying anything. _'I better wait for that. We've both dealt with a lot today. No need to add to everything by asking her what she thinks of me.'_ He cleared his throat. "I just want you to know, you can trust me with your body, just like how I trust you with mine."

H-Naruto smiled, her blush still there but lessened. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

They finished up their dinner and put away the leftovers. Soon came time to shower and go to bed. Being polite, N-Hinata allowed H-Naruto to go first but asked she save some hot water for him, which she had no problem agreeing to.

Hinata had to admit this was a strange experience for her, cleaning a male body. Thanks to her byakugan and anatomy lessons to maximize damage done to enemies, Hinata was not ignorant of what a male body should look like. But this would be her first time actually seeing one for real, without the byakugan which focused more on the chakra system than other physical traits to actually allow her to peep with it. Washing it in the shower wasn't too different than washing her own, just with a flatter chest and a more sensitive to touch lower region. She had to avoid doing too much to that particular area, out of fear what would happen if she didn't restrain herself.

Soon it was Naruto's turn, and he tried to restrain himself, but teenage curiosity got the better of him and he allowed himself to see what Hinata's baggy clothes had been hiding. Now, Naruto's Sexy Jutsu did give him a good idea what the female body was like without covering, but he never stayed in it long enough to actually _do_ anything with it other than tease perverts. After looking at girls like Sakura, Ino, and even Tenten, Naruto was surprised a girl their age like Hinata could be so much more developed. And when looking at the crouch, he wondered how exactly a girl urinated.

Fortunately, when he finished the shower, he was going to find out by doing what came natural.

Later it came time to sleep. Naruto instinctively grabbed a pair of his pajamas, which were a little loose on Hinata's body, and he had to give Hinata a pair since she didn't know where to look and couldn't go back to the Hyuuga compound in his body.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow morning Hinata-chan. Good night." N-Hinata said before heading back to the front room.

"Wait, Naruto-kun." H-Naruto called out, stopping the boy in her original body. "I... I'm still w-worried that som-someone will try to find me tonight and do something b-bad to me, and you too. Could you... could you please... s-st-stay with m-me tonight?"

N-Hinata was silent for a moment. "Well... since we both know what the other looks like, and Baa-chan did say whoever's behind the whole scroll thing would come after you sometime, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem."

The two were cautious, but soon they both laid down on Naruto's bed. N-Hinata assumed H-Naruto's blush was from not being used to sharing a bed, and her holding him was from a need to feel safe in a strange place and situation.

He was only half-right.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, when the sun rose and the people of Konoha were rising from their slumber, H-Naruto was the first to wake up. She felt quite warm and comfortable. It seemed sometime during the night she and N-Hinata ended up sleeping next to each other so right now they were actually cuddling. It was hard to tell who was snuggling into who right now. N-Hinata looked very comfortable with his head under H-Naruto's chin, and H-Naruto had her arms around him. It was very warm and comfortable way to wake up, and even with the body-swapping confusion it still felt right to H-Naruto.

_'This is nice. I wonder if it feels any better being in my own body. Since I'm looking at my normal face, I guess that means we didn't go back to our original bodies during the night.'_ H-Naruto thought. _'I suppose I can wait a bit longer to get back to normal, as long as Naruto-kun's around to help me.'_

H-Naruto's attention was briefly drawn away from her crush by a sudden unfamiliar pressure on her waist. She pulled back a bit and looked down, seeing something that shocked and scared her.

Being in a boy's body, she woke up with a case of morning wood.

_'Is that natural? What do I do? Wait for it to go away?'_ She asked, more uncertain of this than when she had her first period. At least that she had warning prior to, but she never needed to know what to do about an early morning erection.

Doing the only thing she could, H-Naruto got up and walked to the bathroom. _'I hope it will go away on it's own soon. Oh, walking with this sure is awkward.'_ Moving carefully, she reached the bathroom and closed the door.

N-Hinata felt a lack of comforting warmth and started to stir awake. _'Was it a dream?' _Reaching down to his crotch, he felt nothing that was supposed to be there. _'Nope, guess not.'_For a brief moment his teenage curiosity got the better of him and his hand remained down south, though over the underwear. _'It feels weird touching this, but also soothing, like scratching an itch. I wonder why.'_

Trying to ignore it, N-Hinata sat up and stretched his arms over his head. "Hey, Hinata?"

H-Naruto came out of the bathroom, morning wood gone now. "Y-y-yes Naruto-kun?"

"Just wondering where you were. How are you?"

From behind the door H-Naruto blushed and poked her fingers together. "I-I... I'm fine. Just..." She trailed off before taking a calming breath. "Did you sleep alright?"

N-Hinata nodded. "Yeah, I slept fine. Though I got to admit it was hard to sleep on my stomach with this here." He pointed to his new set of breasts as he said that.

H-Naruto blushed more. "Y-you'll get u-used to it. I guess it was e-easier for me since th-they came in little by little for me and you h-have to adjust right away."

N-Hinata got out of bed and reached for Hinata's bra, which he had to take off last night. H-Naruto told him that sleeping with one on wasn't that comfortable. "Do I _have_ to put this back on?"

H-Naruto nodded. "Yes Naruto-kun. I know it feels weird to you, but it will feel better than going without."

N-Hinata sighed and took off his pajama top. "Can you fasten the clip for me?" He asked as he put it in place but fumbled with the back part.

"Sure Naruto-kun." H-Naruto said as she came up behind him and handled the feminine garment properly.

"Thanks. But do I really have to wear these too?" N-Hinata asked, holding up Hinata's lavender panties. Right now he was wearing his own boxers for a small sense of comfort and familiarity.

_'I can't believe I have to spend my morning talking to Naruto-kun about my unmentionables.'_ H-Naruto thought. "Y-y-yes Naruto-kun, you should. Remember, we have to act like the other person now, and I wouldn't walk around wearing boxers."

"But who's going to see what underwear you have on?"

"I don't know, but please Naruto-kun, it will avoid making things worse for us."

"But Hinata, what harm could me wearing boxers really do?" N-Hinata asked.

"Please Naruto-kun?" H-Naruto asked.

N-Hinata sighed. "Fine."

* * *

"Naruto?" Kakashi called as he knocked on his student's door.

Kurenai was tapping her foot. "Any idea how you're going to handle this?" The cycloptic jounin shook his head. "Me neither."

The door opened and they saw Naruto, or at least Naruto's body. "Oh, g-good morning Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei."

"Is that really you Hinata?" Kurenai asked.

'Naruto' blushed, looked down, and pushed his index fingers together. "Y... yes, I'm Hinata. Would you like to come in?"

"Probably better if we do so someone doesn't overhear us." Kakashi said. H-Naruto stepped aside and the two jounin entered.

N-Hinata came out of the kitchen. "Hi Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei. So Baa-chan told you about us already?"

"Yes, she did, though I must admit actually seeing it is rather strange." Kakashi answered.

"Try living it. It's even stranger."

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a moment "Hmm, you have not been doing anything inappropriate with Hinata-san's body have you?" He asked as he leaned forward.

N-Hinata's face turned red. "Ew, no. I am not a pervert like you and Ero-sennin!"

Kurenai rolled her eyes and looked at the two. "Okay you two, do you have everything for a trip out of town packed up and ready?" They nodded, since as ninja they were expected to be prepared to leave at all times. "Good. Now let's head out now so we can make the most out of the time allotted to us."

"What about our teams?" H-Naruto asked as N-Hinata grabbed two already-prepared packs for the two genin.

"Don't worry about it. Hokage-sama already has them covered. Same with the Hyuuga clan in case they ask about Hinata. I mean you. Damn this is going to be confusing." Kurenai replied.

"I have an idea." Kakashi said as N-Hinata showed up with the supply packs. "How about for the duration of this trip we simply refer to Naruto as Hinata and Hinata as Naruto?"

"Why?" N-Hinata asked, handing H-Naruto her gear.

"Because you two need to get used to being referred to by the other's name. In private you two can address each other by your real names, but you need to remember that to everyone else, you're someone else now and they're going to call you by the other's name until this ends. To help you get started on this, you two when not alone must refer to the other by your own name and us two will refer to you by the name of the face we see. You have two weeks to get used to this."

The two genin looked at each other. "I guess they're right. Still, it's going to be weird."

"That's why you have two weeks to not feel as weird as well as respond accordingly when addressed by a different name." Kurenai told them

"Although, I don't think getting used to being called each other's names will not be as difficult as learning… other things." Kakashi said in a 'hint hint' kind of voice, resulting in Kurenai smacking the copycat ninja on the back of the head, hard. "Owww!" Kakashi yelled as he rubbed the spot where he had been hit.

"Shut up, you are not helping." Kurenai growled.

"But am I wrong on what I said?" Kakashi defended.

"You didn't have to phrase it like that."

The one-eyed jounin looked at the genjutsu mistress firmly. "You know Kurenai-san, most of the time when someone thinks something's dirty it's really just because _they're_ the ones with a dirty mind." He then turned to both genins. "You two should keep that in mind too."

Kurenai just frowned lightly but ignored doing anything more to him. "C'mon guys, we're not going to get anywhere just standing here. Let's get a move on."

* * *

Less than fifteen minutes later, Kakashi and Kurenai were leading their two students down a trail outside Konoha. "At the end of this is where we're going to stay. It's a place for training that needs to be done in private, owned by no clan so any ninja can use it with the Hokage's acknowledgement. Here we will help you two learn to cope." Kakashi started, still rubbing the spot where he had been hit.

"While we're moving, we'll start the first lesson." Kurenai added. "You two need to learn to walk appropriately."

"Learn to walk?" N-Hinata asked.

Kurenai nodded. "Yes. You need to act like you're the person you look like, and that means learning to perform all their mannerisms. And when I say all, I mean ALL. This includes the way you walk."

"What's so special about the way we walk?" N-Hinata asked before looking down at her own legs for a moment.

"Hinata, have you ever noticed the way people walk?" Kurenai asked.

N-Hinata was strongly tempted to object to the name reference, but held her tongue. "No. Why would I? It's just walking."

"Actually Naru... I mean, Hinata, it's not that insignificant." Kakashi told his now-female student. "Here, pay close attention to how mine and Kurenai's bodies move when we walk. Look for differences in the way we move and carry ourselves." He then turned forward and he and the kunoichi jonin got in front of the two genin.

N-Hinata still didn't see why this mattered but watched them both. _'Ok, they're not taking left or right steps together, so what? What am I looking for here?'_ After looking for a while she sighed in frustration. "I give up. What do you want me to see?"

Both jounins turned to see the complaining genin, but they didn't stop their trek. "Hinata, maybe you're looking too hard."

"Looking too hard?" N-Hinata repeated, sounding like the very concept was ludicrous. "What the hell is looking too hard?"

Kakashi groaned and face palmed himself. "Kami-sama, you are sometimes so thick it is unbelievable."

"Let me try." Kurenai said "Think of it like this, you walk with confidence, with self-assurance, you stride, you're ready to take on the world."

N-Hinata nodded. "Of course." Thinking like that was completely obvious.

"Well, you're Hinata now, and no offense to you, Naruto..." She said nodding to H-Naruto who poked his fingers together, knowing exactly what was about to be said. "You are a shy, timid girl. You lack any real self-confidence, so you walk slowly and hesitantly. And don't forget, you walk like a girl now, not a boy."

"Why would boys and girls walk differently?" N-Hinata asked.

"Part of it is because it's how they're raised." Kakashi told him. "Boys and girls are raised differently so they act and grow up differently, in more than one way. This includes how they move when they walk. One of the most notable differences in walking is that women tend to walk with a certain sway in their hips."

N-Hinata looked confused. "Women try to shake their asses as they walk?"

Before Kurenai could erupt at the naive boy/girl, Kakashi kept speaking. "Not quite Nar-Hinata. Damn this is harder to get used to then I thought. Anyway, a woman's stride does however draw attention to their hips, but they are not 'shaking their asses' as you put it. Kurenai-san, if you would be so kind to demonstrate for him... her?"

Kurenai still looked upset, but she did walk in a slow circle this time, and this time N-Hinata paid close attention to the way her body moved. _'Her waist seems to perk out left and right with each step, almost like her hips are rocking back and forth. And Kakashi-sensei's right, it is attention-grabbing.'_ "I can see it now, but why do women do that and not men?"

"The reason men don't do it is because for the most part we don't want people to look at us there. Also our hips aren't as wide as a woman's so it's less comfortable for us to move that way." Kakashi explained. "As for why women do, Kurenai-san could answer that better than I could."

The kunoichi jounin looked a little bothered but looked at the boy now trapped in her student's body. "A woman's hips are structured differently than a man's to make giving birth easier for us. This affects the way we walk. But the main reason is because, unlike men like Kakashi-sana said earlier, women usually do want the sway to be noticed."

"Wait, you mean girls _want_ boys to look at their waists?" N-Hinata asked, completely baffled by the idea since it went against everything he believed about women and perverseness. H-Naruto had effectively pointed out last night that reality on the subject wasn't as black-and-white as he believed it to be, but he still had a hard time understanding the entire subject of acceptable or desired perverse behavior.

"Not really, but to a point yes." Kurenai answered. "The motion of the hips draws the eye to it, though it doesn't stay there for long most of the time. This creates a sort of subliminal message to the male mind that the woman has sex appeal, without requiring her to take off her clothes first or wear something more revealing."

N-Hinata crossed his arms defiantly. "I'm not walking like that if it means some guys are going to look at my ass all day."

"You have to Hinata." Kurenai told the stubborn genin, finding it a bit easier now to use the 'appropriate' names. "Until you become a boy again you have to behave as a girl and this is part of it. I understand completely that you don't want people looking at your behind lecherously, but it's something all women have to tolerate. Just be glad you have the training and skills to do something about it if a guy decides to do more than stare."

Both jounin could tell that N-Hinata still had a hard time comprehending what they were trying to teach the confused boy, so Kakashi decided to intervene. "We really should get going rather than hang around here. You'll understand better later Hinata." _'I hope.'_ He added in his mind. "But for now, just try to mimic the way Kurenai-san walks. And Naruto, try to mimic the way I walk, without a sway."

With that, the four continued their hike to the private training area, this time the genin trying to mind their movements the rest of the way.

* * *

"You summoned us Hokage-sama?" Shino asked as he, Kiba, Sakura, and Sasuke stood before Tsunade. All four had been given notices to come to her that morning rather than wait for their sensei's in the usual meeting spots.

"Yes, and I hope you all will hold your tongues until I've finished." She told them. "Something important has come up, and for the next two weeks Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuuhi will be unable to train your teams. I cannot give you the details why, as the reason is confidential. And before any of you ask, Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga will be unable to partake of your team activities in the same amount of time."

Sasuke showed no reaction, but Sakura smiled victoriously. "About damn time."

Tsunade firmly frowned at the pinkette. "Sakura Haruno, you will refrain from disrespecting your teammates in my presence."

"Why? It's just Naruto."

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, making the girl shut up and sweat nervously. "Because like it or not, he is your teammate and someone who has helped you out greatly regardless of whether or not you acknowledge such things. Whatever your personal feelings on him as a person are, when you're on a mission or team you are expected to cooperate and work together, not antagonize and harass. I personally do not care why you think Naruto is supposed to be disrespected, but if you wish to remain an active shinobi, you will learn to keep your opinions to yourself unless asked."

Sakura looked a little displeased at hearing someone tell her not to say whatever she wanted to, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"For the time being, to ensure your training is not neglected, I am assigning the four of you a shared substitute sensei." Tsunade told them all.

"Wouldn't that create a four-man cell?" Shino asked. Thru trial and error, the ninja system had found out that three-man cells led by a single jounin to be the most effective learning environment for genins, maximizing the balance of power and coordination. A fourth member was basically viewed as a proverbial fifth wheel.

"Yes it will, but this can still be beneficial to you all." Tsunade replied. "Team Seven can benefit from learning tracking from Team Eight, and Team Eight can benefit from learning more about assault from Team Seven. As your teams are now, you both are too heavily one-sided and rely on support to cover the other side. For the next two weeks, the four of you will learn from the other in hopes to compensate better. Of course, this can only work if you learn under a sensei who already specializes in tracking a target and assaulting them in a balance manner. That's why I chose your substitute."

"Who is it?" Kiba asked.

Tsunade hit the intercom button. "You can come in now. And please don't break anything."

The door opened with a bit more force than Tsunade would have liked, but fortunately nothing broke. In strode Anko Mitarashi, twirling a kunai on her right index finger.

"Alright runts listen up and listen good. Apparently I'm stuck with you for the next two weeks so until your babysitter's come back your asses are mine. And if anyone doesn't like my methods, I'll cut your asses off." she then smiled and stopped spinning her kunai, holding it now firmly as if ready to use it.

Sakura, Kiba, and Shino all showed various expressions of concern and/or apprehension over this, but Sasuke merely looked like this was an attempt to amuse him and it didn't work. He turned to Tsunade. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, what qualifications does she have to benefit us?"

Tsunade rose her hand to stop Anko from giving the Uchiha a random injury. "Well, she is a very talented kunoichi, ranked tokubetsu jounin and feared by many in Konoha. And since she has been trained to be an assassin, she has adequate training in tracking and fighting, which makes her perfect for training you for for the time being."

Sasuke lightly grinned. An assassin was his idea of a perfect sensei. _'She can help me get strong enough to kill Itachi and she's bound to have plenty of stuff for me to copy. The chidori's good but you can never know too many jutsu.'_

"So until further notice you four are Anko's pupils and will do whatever she tells you to. Refusal to cooperate will count as insubordination just as if she was your full-time sensei. Dismissed." Tsunade told them all.

Anko smirked. "Well if I'm stuck with you four, I'm going to at least make the most of it. I'll give you all thirty minutes to get supplies and get to the Forest of Death. Anyone who shows up late, well, I don't think you want to know what will happen. Now move maggots!"

Tsunade could not remember the last time she saw genin move so fast.

* * *

"Well, we're here." Kakashi told his group.

They were now at what looked like a large house at the base of a peak surrounded by forest. There were no fences or signs of water but there was an inactive generator on the side of the house. Kakashi went up to it and turned it on. "There, now we'll have power while we're here. We;ll still probably have to clean up the place since it's not used a lot."

"What do we do about food?" H-Naruto asked.

"We've got plenty sealed away, plus there's huntable game and edible plants around here too." Kurenai answered. "As for water, there's a stream on the other side of this peak we can use. There's no hot water so for bathing we'll have to fill a tub with water and heat it up the hard way. Since neither of you know any fire jutsu, we'll probably get you working on that at least to make it easier."

"Cool, so we're getting actual training while we're here too?" N-Hinata asked, grateful to be learning something he could use in a fight.

"Some, yes, but remember, Hinata, the real reason we're here." Kakashi told him.

N-Hinata sighed reluctantly. "Yeah yeah, I know, but come on Kakashi-sensei, you spent a month giving Sasuke personal training so can't you at least me something I can use too in this time?"

"I could, but unfortunately there's little I can teach you that would be applicable in your new body." Kakashi told his student.

"Then... teach me something that Naruto-kun can use when he gets this body back." H-Naruto stated, hoping this would please her crush.

"Well..." The cycloptic jounin said, sounding like he was trying to find the correct words to say in response. "You need to learn chakra control first with your new reserves, so until then new jutsu is a bad idea, and it could take you longer than two weeks to learn such control."

H-Naruto looked a little irritated. "Kakashi-sensei, do you _not_ want Naruto-kun to learn anything?"

Everyone looked surprised to hear her ask that. "Excuse me?"

"I asked do you not want Naruto-kun to learn anything." She repeated, a bit firm by her standards. "We have two weeks to learn how to act like someone else in public, but we also need to learn how to fight effectively in these bodies when on missions. The most effective way is to teach us something new we can grasp instead of solely learning how to use techniques we originally had but can't use in these bodies. I can teach Naruto-kun about the byakugan and he can teach me about shadow clones, but we need to learn other new techniques so we don't fall into old habits when it could be critical. Surely as a jounin you are aware of this, yet you speak like it's not a priority. So either that was an oversight on your part, or you simply are not concerned about making Naruto-kun stronger. Which is it?"

All eyes were immediately on Kakashi right then, awaiting his answer. And the longer he stalled, the more inept he would look.

"Kakashi-sensei?" N-Hinata asked, looking like he had just discovered a betrayal.

"Naruto, it's not personal. It's just that because of your reckless behavior and your jinchuuriki status I..." Kakashi started, but stopped as soon as he saw N-Hinata drop his head and clench his fist at his sides.

"So that's it? All because of the fox? You see me as a monster too even after all this?" He then raised his eyes, teary and close to activating the byakugan on instinct. "I actually thought my own sensei saw me as a human being, but apparently I was wrong."

"Naruto, I just-"

"SHUT UP!" N-Hinata yelled before running off into the woods.

Kurenai frowned at Kakashi, but looked at H-Naruto to speak. "Hinata, go get him. I think you're the one who can help him best now."

H-Naruto nodded and ran off to chase her distraught love interest. _'I sure hope I can find him without my byakugan.'_

Kurenai looked back at Kakashi. "Until they get back, I'm going to wait for you to finish your explanation, but you better have a good one for purposely denying your student education."

Kakashi looked as firm as ever. "Kurenai-san, I am not against Naruto. I believe he can in time become a great shinobi, great enough to possibly even become Hokage. But as he is now, he is too impulsive and naive, and on more than just sexual matters as Tsunade-sama told us the other night. Naruto is just like a child, an independent child but a child nonetheless, and while his results are superb his means are hardly professional."

"I seem to recall that you were once on a team with a boy who was just like that." The woman countered, deliberately hitting a sore spot.

Kakashi immediately narrowed his good eye at Kurenai. Staring at her coldly for a moment, he then continued. "My point is giving him more power than he had handle properly will only make him a bigger liability and more vulnerable to giving in to the fox's bloodlust."

Kurenai silently comprehended this. "And you never _told_ him this before? He would have worked at becoming a better person if you-"

"Maturity cannot be forced Kurenai-san, it can only come with time and experience." Kakashi interjected.

Kurenai did not look any more settled now; if anything she looked more irritated. "Yet you felt the Uchiha was mature enough to learn an assassination jutsu? Naruto may be vulnerable to Kyuubi's bloodlust, but Sasuke is vulnerable to his own and _he_ doesn't have a seal to at least hinder it. In fact, from what I've heard he embraces it like a mother's hug. And don't tell me his tragedy makes him more mature than Naruto. If you want to play that card, I'm sure there are plenty of bad instances in Naruto's own life to make Sasuke's look merely unlucky, not unfortunate."

Now Kakashi looked mad. "Oh, so you care about Naruto Kurenai-san? I helped guard him as he was growing up. I don't remember ever seeing you there to keep him from getting hurt. Did you ever bring food to his house when he was out? Buy him ramen? Treat his wounds? Did you?"

"If you really care about him, then why don't you tell him who he really is?" She asked and knew she had struck a nerve. "Is that why you took him on as your student? Because when you see his face you see-"

"Don't you dare! I picked him, I agreed to be his sensei because no one else wanted him. Including you. In fact, I heard that you once told Hinata not to pursue an interest in him because... how did you put it? He's a boy and all boys only want one thing?"

"Well they do." Kurenai firmly answered.

"Even if they don't know what that one thing is?" Kakashi pressed. "Let's be honest here Kurenai-san, you scold me on not being a saint to Naruto, but are _you_ really any better? Can _you_ cast the first stone? The only reason you're even here is simply to ensure he doesn't do anything with Hinata you don't approve of."

Kurenai frowned harder. "The boy needs to know to keep his hands to himself."

"Even though the two are as inseparable as you can get without being conjoined?" Kakashi argued. "No one understands Naruto better than Hinata right now, and vice versa, and like it or not, those two are going to seek comfort in each other to get thru this confusing time here. And they are counting on us to help support them, not make them feel worse about themselves. Hinata is _not_ the only one who needs guidance and reassurance here! You implied just now that I play favorites with my students, but to me you're absolutely no different."

The two jounin stared each other down, neither wanting to show weakness to the other, but Kakashi leaned back. "Enough of this pissing contest. We've got two weeks to train BOTH genin to be comfortable in their situation, and we're not going to accomplish that if we're at each other's throats. So how about we go inside and get set up for our stay and wait for them to return?"

Kakashi turned away without waiting for a response, leaving Kurenai standing there wondering what to do.

She followed him in.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour later N-Hinata and H-Naruto returned to the house, N-Hinata's eyes still red. His eyes also hardened a bit when he saw Kakashi.

_'I know I've got some explaining to do, but I hope he at least gives me the chance to.'_ Kakashi told himself. "Naruto..."

"Don't you mean 'Hinata'?" N-Hinata interjected, sounding slightly harsh.

"I just want to let you know there is a reason I do what I do and it's not because of any prejudice to you."

Before he could continue N-Hinata shrugged and scoffed under his breath. "Whatever. I'm tired and in no mood for a lecture."

"It's only the afternoon." Kurenai pointed out.

"Then I'll take a nap."

"Naruto-"

"You want to stop me? Go ahead and try it." The boy in a girl's body stated firmly. Neither of the jounin made a move. "Good." He then walked off to find a room for privacy.

"Is he okay?" Kurenai asked H-Naruto.

"He's still mad, and who could blame him?" She replied before trying to follow him.

"Hinata." Kurenai said. "You're not sharing a room with him. Not on my watch."

H-Naruto gave her sensei a cold hurt look, remembering the genjutsu mistress telling her not to interact with Naruto if she could help it. "Kurenai-sensei, did I ask for your permission?" Her phrasing showed the question was very rhetorical.

"It doesn't matter, because I forbid it."

"Try and stop me, but I will fight back." H-Naruto declared before walking off.

"We should leave them be. They still prefer the support of each other now, even more than our own." Kakashi said sagely. "Also, it would be wise to let them sleep in the same room for the time being."

"What?" Kurenai asked, completely shocked. "How the hell can you justify such an idea?"

"Because we already have and we both liked it." H-Naruto answered, sticking her head out from behind a corner. "I have no reason to hide this body from Naruto-kun and he has no reason to hide my own body from me. And neither one of us are at any point where we crave sexual activity, so stop being paranoid Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai was shocked. Never in all the time she knew Hinata did the Hyuuga heiress speak so sternly to her. Heck, for a long time she didn't even think Hinata knew how to speak sternly to someone. _'Either the stress of situation is causing her to be less patient, or her concern for Naruto is acting up.'_

"I'm not paranoid, I'm being rational." The genjutsu mistress insisted.

"Rational? I told you Kurenai-sensei that neither of us want something sexual just yet. How can you look at me and say you're being rational?"

"I know men better than you do and even if Naruto is in a female body at the moment he still has the mind of a man." Kurenai said firmly.

"And how is that a crime?" H-Naruto asked bluntly.

"Beg pardon?" Kurenai asked, confused.

"You speak as if being a man is a crime, or a criminal waiting to happen. Why? What am I supposed to be afraid of here?"

"_You_ are the one who's not ready for something sexual, but _he_ might be. Boys are always interested in being perverts." The kunoichi jounin told the former kunoichi genin.

"Do you honestly believe that Naruto-kun is going to do anything to me while I'm like this?" H-Naruto asked, spreading her arms to emphasize Naruto's original body.

"That's not the body I'm worried about." Kurenai said.

"And what is he going to do with my old body that I myself couldn't do when _I_ had it?"

Before Kurenai could answer, Kakashi spoke to her. "Kurenai, I highly, _highly_ doubt that the phrase 'I'm a girl now I can sex with men' has even come close to crossing Naruto's mind. In fact I bet the idea terrifies him to his core. And masturbation is not a bad thing either. In fact I think both of them should masturbate in their bodies at least once to help them gain comfort in their new forms."

"You pervert." Kurenai complained.

"Look Kurenai, none of us know how long this switch will last. Naruto and Hinata could be stuck like this for a long time, you know it, I know it, they know it. Since they're going to be like this, they have to get comfortable being the opposite gender. What better way to get accustomed to their bodies than by doing that? If you've got a better way then please indulge me." Kakashi told her firmly.

Kurenai however looked just as firm in her own stand as the cyclops was in his. Not wanting to hear more of this, H-Naruto just quietly walked away into the room N-Hinata was in. She saw the boy-turned-girl lying down on a western style bed, looking at the ceiling with his hands under his head.

"You okay?" H-Naruto asked, closing the door but coming no closer.

"Yeah, just not ready to hear whatever excuse he has. Let him see what it's like to be ignored for a bit first, then I'll see what his reasons for ignoring me were."

H-Naruto nodded sympathetically. "I understand. Kurenai-sensei's getting on my nerves too. She seems convinced you're going to do something wrong with my body first chance you get."

"Like what? All I've learned is how to walk and use the bathroom?" N-Hinata complained.

"Kurenai-sensei has been an anti-pervert as long as I've known her. Sometimes I think she may have been sexually abused in her past, but I'm not sure." She said, remembering the time when Team Eight was first formed and how Kurenai always seemed to keep an eye on Kiba and Shino as if they were about to do something she had to prevent. In time it stopped, but Hinata always wondered why she did that, though she never felt comfortable asking.

"I can understand her intentions, but I wish she didn't act like she knew everything about me based on just one fact." N-Hinata commented. After a moment, his eyes suddenly widened considerably, like he just saw a ghost.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" H-Naruto asked, seating herself next to him.

"I... I just asked myself 'Is this how Ero-sennin felt when I always called _him_ a pervert?' I always thought it was okay since he peeps on girls and writes porn, but... I always talk about him the way Kurenai-sensei is talking about me. Like he can't do anything except be a pervert."

"Naruto-kun, everyone has their vices and bad habits. I'm not saying peeping is okay, but that alone doesn't make him a bad person. I mean, he doesn't actually _do_ anything to the women right?"

"Not that I've seen, but still, isn't peeping bad?"

"Most of the time, yes it is. However, it's not the worst thing a person can do." H-Naruto told him, then blushed. "Na... Naruto-kun, could you keep a se-secret?"

"Of course Hinata."

"E-even if it m-may sound b-b-bad?"

N-Hinata was confused. "If you don't want to tell me Hinata, you don't have to."

H-Naruto shook her head. "No Naruto-kun, you need to hear this. Watching someone isn't enough to make someone a pervert. I mean, you don't think I'm a pervert do you?"

"What? No of course not Hinata."

"What if I told you I... I some-sometimes watched you?"

As expected, N-Hinata looked quite surprised and confused. "What? Did you really? Or are you just saying that as an example?"

H-Naruto looked at her lap to avoid a reaction she couldn't predict but didn't want to experience. "I... I actually d-did watch you a f-few times. You were training in private, and several times all I w-wanted to do was... g-go up to you and ask to jo-join in. But... I was always just too shy to do it. I was afraid y-you'd tell me to get lost. So all I could do was watch, and hide if I thought you saw me."

"I wouldn't have done that had I known." N-Hinata told the girl in his original body.

"I know, but you don't understand shyness Naruto-kun." She told him. "I was afraid you _would_ have done that. Afraid enough that I couldn't make myself risk it. I'm not afraid of you Naruto-kun; I'm afraid of being rejected _by_ you. That's what shyness is."

N-Hinata thought it over. _'The stuttering, the blushing, the fainting, the quiet tone of her voice, this explains so much. She's not gloomy, she's just insecure.'_ "Hinata, can I ask you two questions?"

"Of course Naruto-kun."

"Do you act around me in a way you don't act around others?" N-Hinata inquired, wondering what the boundaries of her shy behavior were.

H-Naruto blushed and tapped her fingers together, a very unusual thing to see Naruto's body do. "H-honestly... yes Naruto-kun. I'm usually able to talk better with my team and... my family when they actually need me for anything."

"But do you faint or blush around any of them too?" N-Hinata pressed. H-Naruto took a deep breath and closed her eyes, shaking a bit as if she was shivering. "Hinata?" N-Hinata asked, putting his arms around her to comfort and/or warm her up.

As soon as she felt the arms around her, H-Naruto dove into N-Hinata's embrace and tried to relax. "No Naruto-kun. I... I only ever do that... around you. Sorry, but I can't help it. You are my strength _and_ my weakness."

Not knowing what else to do, N-Hinata rubbed his friend's back, trying to comfort her. "Hinata, my second question is why me? Why am I the one who does this to you? Did I hurt you at some point?"

H-Naruto immediately straightened up to look at what had once been her face. "No Naruto-kun, you never hurt me. I told you I'm not afraid of you and I meant that."

"But still, why...? Just, why?"

"It's... it's hard to explain Naruto-kun. May-maybe after we handle the more urgent problem, then we can cover how things are between us." H-Naruto made herself say with great difficulty. As much as she wanted to tell Naruto her true feelings, she was still too shy to do so and the two of them would have an easier time handling their body swap without the added tension of their relationship, in whatever form it was or could be, making things more complicated.

_'One step at a time.'_ H-Naruto told her. _'Handle this, and let Naruto-kun get close to me. Then I can ask him where I stand with him and go from there.'_

N-Hinata thought it over then nodded. "Yeah you're probably right Hinata-chan. But we are friends right?"

H-Naruto smiled and looked back at her love interest. "Yes we are. And I hope we always will be Naruto-kun." She intertwined her hands with his. _'And hopefully someday more, but for now I'll accept this.'_

N-Hinata felt awkward about the unfamiliar contact, but he did not reject it. "I hope so too."

* * *

Night came and now N-Hinata and H-Naruto were no longer tired. Not wanting to disturb their senseis at this hour, the two went outside and used chakra to crawl up to the roof. There they just laid down and stared up at the stars.

"I always loved doing this on missions." H-Naruto said.

"I know what you mean. It's better when you're away from cities like now." N-Hinata replied. "Speaking of which, I'm not looking forward to returning to Konoha right now."

Rather than question why, H-Naruto shook her head. "I understand. I'm scared too."

"I have no idea how to act around a family, especially one like the Hyuuga." N-Hinata stated. "My closest experience was my time in Wave with the client's family, but they were struggling to survive so it won't be at all like with the Hyuuga. And what about your team? I barely know them at all."

"Kiba-kun and Shino-kun are easy enough to get along with as long as you keep quiet most of the time. Kurenai-sensei... I hope she'll be professional about you. And as for my clan... if there was any way we could justify you not living there, I'd recommend it."

"Why?" N-Hinata asked, curious and not understanding.

"The Hyuuga are pretty set in their ways and would not accept your choice of... well, anything I think. Don't feel bad, they barely accept my choices either."

"Okay, and if we're on the subject, maybe you shouldn't live on your own in my apartment. I don't think a girl like you would enjoy that kind of lifestyle."

H-Naruto sighed sadly. "If only we could keep living together. That would handle the problem."

N-Hinata thought it over. "Y'know, maybe we can."

"How?" H-Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure, but we have time to come up with an answer."

"Hey you two." Kakashi said to them from behind, making them turn around. "Shouldn't you two be in bed?"

"We're not tired." N-Hinata said, hurt still evident on his face and in his voice.

"Naruto, can I please talk to you?" Kakashi asked, then glanced to H-Naruto before returning his eyes to his student. "In private?"

Before N-Hinata could answer, H-Naruto placed her hand on his shoulder. "You probably should Naruto-kun. I'll go back to our room. Please come back to me when you're done."

N-Hinata nodded and H-Naruto left the roof. N-Hinata then looked at his sensei. "So what are you going to do? Give me some BS on how you can conveniently explain why it's okay to treat me like the fox?"

"Naruto, I could give you a dozen reasons for why I've done what I have, but none of that will mean anything as long as you're angry with me and refuse to listen properly."

N-Hinata just kept frowning. "So that's it? No apology? I'm just supposed to get over it because you don't want me to be mad over being neglected? Sorry Sensei, you can't order that."

"That's not what I mean Naruto. I am sorry, but I don't think you'll accept that until you learn why I chose what I chose, and unless you can at least put that anger aside long enough to hear me out, nothing I say will matter to you except as something to make you even madder."

"Maybe I deserve to be mad. Did you ever think of that?"

Kakashi nodded. "Of course I did. But did you ever think maybe I have reasons besides blaming you for what the fox did?"

"Why would I? Practically everyone else has." N-Hinata replied.

Kakashi could now see his student's mental scars went deeper than originally thought. After so long being neglected, Naruto had a difficult time grasping the concept of being accepted. Especially after learning why people avoided him. "What about Hinata? You think she blames you?"

"For this mess she does."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "Did she say that?"

"She doesn't have to." N-Hinata looked away.

Kakashi sat down next to his gender-bent student. "Did she _say_ that Naruto?"

"I _said_ she doesn't have to. It's obvious." N-Hinata repeated, making an effort to avoid eye contact.

"Naruto, that's not what I'm asking. Did she ever at any point say 'Naruto this is your fault'?"

"It _is_ my fault so of course she blames me!" N-Hinata all but screamed.

Kakashi shook his head. "Naruto, this is really just you blaming yourself. Hold it!" He interjected before his student could yell again. "It's normal to blame yourself here. The problem is that because you blame yourself you expect everyone else to blame you too. That's normal, but that's not true. I don't think Hinata blames you for this."

"Kurenai-sensei does." N-Hinata quietly added, as if afraid to be heard.

"Even if that's true, Hinata is not Kurenai is she?" Kakashi asked, hoping his student would get rid of some of his unnecessary anger here and then he could better get thru to the former jinchuuriki.

N-Hinata sighed. "No, she isn't."

"So you shouldn't assume the two think the same. And you shouldn't assume Hinata thinks the same way you do. Here's something you should really learn Naruto, never think about other people like they're the same as you. The fact is, they aren't. People don't think the same things you think, do the same things you do, or have the same motives you have. And this goes for everyone, not just you and Hinata. If you want to understand a person, you have to learn how they see things."

"And how do I do that?" N-Hinata asked.

"Simple. You get to know them first, or if not that then ask them."

N-Hinata didn't look happy. "That barely ever works for me."

"I said it was simple. I didn't say it was easy." Kakashi replied. "Here, I'll help you learn. As you know, I was hesitant to immediately train you or Hinata in any jutsus here, and in your anger you assumed I'm punishing you because of the fox. Instead of considering my point of view, you're only considering the view you're most familiar with. That's normal, but it's not conclusive. For example, when have I ever treated you like the fox?"

"You ditched me for Sasuke when I needed training in the chuunin exams." N-Hinata stated.

"Naruto, how is that treating you like the fox?" Kakashi asked. "Just because someone else gets attention first doesn't mean you're being deliberately ignored."

"Then why ignore me? If not for the fox then why?"

_'He's still speaking out of anger. He probably hasn't realized yet most of the things I do are done for professional reasons rather than personal reasons.'_ The copy nin told himself. "Naruto, take a deep breath and think about something soothing."

N-Hinata was reluctant, but inhaled deeply and thought of the first pleasant thing he could, which predictably was countless bowls of ramen. "Alright then, now what?"

"Listen to what I'm about to tell you. Don't judge, don't try and piece it together, just listen. Okay?" The jounin asked, and the genin nodded. "I actually did intend on teaching you something during the month break. However, Sasuke required my attention first for several reasons. That seal he got from Orochimaru was a big part, since I was needed to keep an eye on it and him in the event it acted up."

"I got one from him too you know." N-Hinata commented.

"Actually, I didn't know that until weeks after when Jiraiya-sama told me." Kakashi pointed out. "I did check on you when I was done training Sasuke but I saw you were in the hands of a sannin much more capable then myself so I let you on your own from there. And just between us, Sasuke's a surprisingly slow learner."

N-Hinata looked surprised. "Really? But everyone says he's a genius."

"An expert in one area isn't necessarily an expert in another Naruto." Kakashi told him. "Sasuke is talented in many things, but he's not talented in everything. He's smart but unlike you he's not very creative, he's a bit of a fixator so he doesn't see the big picture, and he needs a lot of work to get something done without his sharingan. Those fire jutsus of his took years to perfect, not hours like your shadow clones, which I might add are even harder to learn and use, and I think the only reason he got better grades then you was because he studied more than you did."

"I think the teachers were a bit against me too." N-Hinata said.

"I wouldn't put it past them, but think about it this way Naruto. They couldn't set you up to fail unless you were passing without their interference. If you were already getting F's why would they bother giving you F-'s? The way I see it, there are only two explanations here. You're smarter than you think you are, you're just too used to being called an idiot to fight it anymore, or you can be smart but you just don't like studying."

N-Hinata still looked upset. "So those are my choices? I'm either held back or lazy?"

"When it comes to studying Naruto, are you lazy?" Kakashi asked unaccusingly.

"I'm not lazy Kakashi-sensei. I just... it's so boring having to read and memorize a bunch of gibberish. How can anyone do it?"

"You're just not the type of person who learns that way. Sakura learns that way, Sasuke learns by seeing someone else, and you learn by trying it out yourself. That's how you learned the shadow clones, summoning jutsu, and rasengan after all. In that essence you are the genius compared to Sasuke."

Kakashi could see that N-Hinata was starting to feel good about himself again and knew now was the time to truly get thru to the boy-turned-girl. "That is the reason I said what I said this afternoon Naruto. You learn thru your body, thru trial and error and the sweat of your brow. However, this technically isn't your body, and I worry that will affect your ability to learn. It's likely your rate of learning and ability to perform has been affected, and I wanted to see if that was the matter. The best way to test the theory isn't to give you new jutsu, but to see how well you perform what you already know in this body and compare the efforts to before."

N-Hinata was quiet for a bit, making Kakashi hold his breath in anticipation without realizing it. Slowly, N-Hinata turned to face his sensei. "But why didn't you say that before? Or why bring up the fox at all?"

"You didn't give me the chance Naruto. You assumed that I was picking on you. As for the fox, you're used to having a lot of chakra because of it, but now you don't. Even now you probably don't feel as energetic as you usually do right?"

_'Now that he mentions it, I do feel a bit tired compared to normal.'_ N-Hinata thought. "So I have to get used to being in Hinata's body before I learn how to fight in it, right?"

"Exactly Naruto. That's why I didn't immediately plan on teaching either of you jutsus. There are other ways to get used to your new chakra levels than giving you jutsu to practice with. This might take a while and we've only got two weeks to do it, but hopefully by the deadline you'll be able to handle this body. If you're still in it of course."

"Well, I'm not going to let this stop me." N-Hinata said with confidence.

Kakashi smiled, glad to see his student back to normal, or as normal as he could be in his situation. "Lets see you say that when you experience your first period."

"My first what?" N-Hinata asked.

"Maybe Kurenai could explain that one to you."

* * *

After leaving the roof and going back inside, H-Naruto was soon met with Kurenai.

"Hinata, I told you it's not wise be alone with him."

H-Naruto frowned deeply at her sensei. "Kurenai-sensei, with all due respect, I'm getting tired of your attitude towards Naruto-kun. Just what are you so afraid of? Tell me or I won't bother listening to you anymore on the matter."

"You're in no position to give me an ultimatum Hinata."

The girl-in-a-boy's-body kept up her frown and crossed her arms. "By refusing to answer my question, you're only telling me the answer is stupid."

"Don't you take that attitude with me boy." Kurenai sternly declared.

N-Hinata arched an eyebrow. "Boy?"

"I mean girl. Girl!" The genjutsu mistress corrected. "It's hard to think of you as a girl when you have a boy's face."

"Kurenai-sensei, is this some sort of personal gender issue you have?" H-Naruto asked. "Do you mistrust Naruto-kun because he has the mind of a boy, or myself because I have the body of one?"

"Hinata, you don't know boys like I do."

"And you don't know Naruto-kun like I do."

"Know? You don't know him at all Hinata. You've just got a silly schoolgirl crush you're going to outgrow someday if you know what's good for you." Kurenai stated, a bit too hostile for the Hyuuga heiress's liking. It almost sounded like an order.

"You speak as if this is personal to you." H-Naruto claimed.

"It is! I was once like you Hinata, I thought I was in love with a boy that impressed me. When I tried to get close to him, I found out I didn't know him at all and I was hurt by who he really was. So I'm warning you that the same is going to happen to you some day if you don't listen to me."

H-Naruto looked enraged. "So that's it? You had one bad experience and suddenly you think you have authority over my personal affections?"

"I'm just trying to protect you from the pain I experienced." Kurenai added.

"Maybe I'm willing to take that risk, did you ever think of that?" H-Naruto asked.

"You shouldn't." The jounin kunoichi simply answered.

"And what gives you the right to make that decision for me?"

"I'm the voice of experience here."

"And that permits you to dictate my own experiences?" The genin asked, getting low on patience. "Kurenai-sensei, I don't know where Naruto-kun and I will end up. We may get closer, we may not, but I'll never know if I let people like you tell me what to do."

"Big words coming from a bo... girl... from someone who can't even talk to him in complete sentences most of the time." Kurenai replied, not the least bit intimidated or impressed by her student. _'Hinata may talk big here, but as soon as that boy comes near her again she's going to get flustered and cowardly like before. And if he ever realizes that he's likely to take advantage of her and use her until he gets bored. I know you think I'm just being paranoid and spiteful, but I'm trying to save you from having your idealism crushed and giving up on love.'_

H-Naruto frowned then sighed. "Maybe it's time I changed that. So are you going to be my sensei and teach me how to interact with a comrade properly or not?"

Kurenai lost her composure at that. The rules of the jounin sensei did require her to teach her students how to cooperate with their comrades despite any gender difference. And given the circumstances she couldn't realistically hope that Naruto would remain oblivious to Hinata's affections.

Kurenai sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "Hinata, please understand I'm only doing for you what I wished someone had done for me when I was your age. If I had been helped this way I would have been spared a great deal of heartbreak."

"And maybe you wouldn't be so quick to presume men are only out to hurt you." H-Naruto added, confusing the jounin. "Kurenai-sensei, I have no reason to believe Naruto-kun will hurt me, deliberately or not. I know he sees me as a friend. I know he hasn't given up on Sakura-san." A tear trailed down her cheek. "And I know he's as frightened by this body switch as I am. Maybe even more so when he has to deal with my cycles. I can either do as you say and treat him like an animal I must not touch, or follow my heart and treat him like a friend. No offense, but I choose the latter, so goodnight."

With that, H-Naruto returned to her room, leaving Kurenai behind to reflect on her words. _'I've just been chewed out by the quietest genin I have. Now that's a low blow. What do I do to get thru to her? Any advice I give now is just going to come across as self-interested.'_

After a while Kakashi and N-Hinaya walked inside. Neither said a word at first, N-Hinata just walked to his room where H-Naruto was, and Kakashi remained at the edge of the room. "You have a nice chat with your student?"

"Not a nice one. I think we've got more to cover than just teaching them how to act like the other person."

"Don't I know it. But it's our jobs to teach them everything they need to know." Kakashi told her. "Though if Naruto starts complaining about cramps, you're on your own for that topic."

"Men..." Kurenai complained, rolling her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning H-Naruto and N-Hinata woke up, cleaned up, went into the kitchen, and were greeted by the sight of breakfast made by Kurenai. On the table were four servings of miso soup, rice, a little poached fish, and some toast.

A sight that N-Hinata greeted with eagerness, since the majority of his morning meals consisted of simple instant microwavable breakfasts and/or ramen. With some milk on the off-chance it would help him grow taller by now, not that such an issue was important at the moment.

"Good morning Kurenai-sensei." H-Naruto greeted, but not as warmly as she usually did.

"Good morning Hi... Naruto." Kurenai greeted back, remembering the new rule about name usage. The two genin sat down, but neither looked that sociable at the moment and Kurenai suspected she was to blame for that. "I understand that you two probably have some issues with the way Kakashi and I are regarding this situation, but you must know we're just protecting you both."

"From what?" Both body-swapped teens asked.

For some reason, being asked that one simple question practically destroyed Kurenai's resolve. 'It's like they don't trust us at all anymore. I guess their trust in both of us has been shaken if not damaged. I just hope that can be fixed.'

"There are many more problems you two will have to face because of this change. Much more and much worse than just having to act like someone else. There are threats and dangers both of you are aware of." She said to get their attention.

Kurenai first looked at N-Hinata. "Naruto, there are things you're vastly unprepared for. And I don't mean just how to act around the Hyuugas. I mean things that girls are prepared for that boys barely think about. Things like what girls experience during puberty, and how to deal with boys."

"I'm not dating any boy. That's disgusting." N-Hinata said with a grossed out expression.

"Boys don't always take no for an answer Naruto. That's why rape exists in the first place."

N-Hinata looked confused. "What's rape?"

"Don't play dumb with me boy. You know full well what rape is."

N-Hinata looked even more confused. "I've never heard that word once in my life. I would appreciate it if you stopped assuming I know what everyone else knows since everyone else made damn sure I learned as little as possible."

Kurenai did not look convinced. "It's common knowledge."

"Kurenai-sensei." H-Naruto interjected. "It's very unprofessional for a teacher to assume their student already knows something and thus doesn't need to be taught. If Naruto-kun says he doesn't know what rape is you should give him the benefit of the doubt and explain it to him."

"Yes Kurenai, you should." Tsunade said as she came into the room, surprising everyone.

"Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked, not expecting her.

"Hey Baa-chan what brings you here?" N-Hinata asked.

"Oh nothing, just a request from Kakashi that I oversee Kurenai."

The genjutsu mistress did not know what to think. "What? Why would you need to oversee me?"

"Because when I told you to do this job I warned you about being overzealous but Kakashi has reason to believe you're letting your personal views on gender get in the way of being fair to these two."

"I am not! If anything Kakashi's the one being unfair. You should reprimand him not me."

Tsunade looked mildly amused, it was like dealing with child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "You sure were quick to try and redirect blame to someone else, sounds like there _is_ something you're guilty of. Unfortunately I don't have all day but I am going to see for myself just what you and Kakashi are doing in regards to teaching."

"It's only been one day Hokage-sama. You can't expect us to have taught them that much to begin with." Kurenai defended.

"I'm aware of that, but what I'm more interested in is the quality of your teachings, not the quantity." Tsunade replied.

"Unfortunately we haven't had much time to teach anything beyond gender-appropriate walking because of Naruto." Kurenai said, a hint of accusation in her voice and eyes.

"If I may, Hokage-sama, I can explain that for you." H-Naruto interjected.

"I'm listening." Tsunade said.

"Yesterday we had reason to believe that Kakashi-sensei had no intention of teaching Naruto-kun anything during this time. When called on it he claimed Kyuubi was a factor and Naruto-kun took it as prejudice against him. Was that not a natural reaction for him?"

"Honestly it was. Was the issue resolved?"

N-Hinata nodded. "Somewhat I guess. Kakashi-sensei later told me that I'm so used to having Kyuubi's chakra in me that I might not know how to fight without it and he needs to get me used to that first. And Hinata-chan needs to get used to fighting with it. Because of that, he's not yet sure where to start teaching."

Tsunade nodded, pleased. "Okay, that sounds good. Now explain how helpful Kurenai has been."

H-Naruto spoke up. "Kurenai-sensei seems to believe that Naruto-kun intends to misuse my body first chance he has."

Tsunade turned to Kurenai. "Misuse? How?"

"I never said that." Kurenai defended.

"Didn't you say just last night boys are always interested in being perverts?" H-Naruto asked. "And didn't you try to order me to not ever be alone with him? Or even care about him like I do?"

"What?" N-Hinata and Tsunade asked in shock.

"Hinata you are taking my advice out of context." Kurenai warned the girl in a boy's body.

H-Naruto turned to the slug sannin. "Kurenai-sensei said to me last night that she had a bad experience with a crush in her past and thus thinks it's a bad idea for me to show any interest in men at all, and even so much as told me to not care for Naruto-kun 'if I knew what was good for me'." She made quotation gestures with her fingers for the last part.

Tsunade looked at Kurenai with steel in her eyes. "Kurenai Yuuhi, I order you to see Inoichi right away to set this straight. Until I say otherwise, you are off this assignment until further notice and if I find out you _are_ being a misandrist on the job when I ordered you not to be you will be removed permanently. Maybe even removed from being a jounin sensei."

Kurenai wanted to object, but doing so would only provoke the hokage further. "Yes Hokage-sama."

Tsunade looked at the genin. "For now, Kakashi is your only sensei in this. If Kurenai isn't back here by the end of the day, assume she's not coming back at all." They nodded. "Kurenai, follow me." Tsunade ordered, and the two kunoichi left. Kurenai tried to give H-Naruto a hurt look, one of betrayal to make the shy girl/boy have pity on her, but H-Naruto refused to look at her right then.

N-Hinata looked at H-Naruto. "I'm not causing a problem with you and your sensei am I Hinata-chan?"

H-Naruto shook her head. "No, this isn't your fault Naruto-kun. It's Kurenai-sensei's fault for deciding I'm the only one here who deserved to be helped. I hope she can learn that she's wrong about you, but if she can't, then I can learn to live without her."

N-Hinata just stared at his companion in this crisis. "Hinata-chan, everyone was implying something about how you see me. Is there something you haven't told me yet?"

"There is, but I wasn't trying to hurt you Naruto-kun. I just didn't know how to tell you or when the right time was. But right now, I think I can say it to you. With what we're going thru, what's there to be shy about anymore?"

N-Hinata shrugged, and H-Naruto took a deep breath before continuing. "Naruto-kun, I like you. And I don't just mean I like people like you, I mean I like _you_. You Naruto-kun."

"What do you mean?" N-Hinata asked, then got an idea. "Wait, you mean like how Sakura-chan likes Sasuke?"

H-Naruto nodded. "Yes, I was just too shy to tell you before. I wanted to, but... unlike Sakura it's not easy for me to just come out and say it."

There was some yelling outside, most of it on Kurenai's end, making the genin uncomfortable. "Let's go somewhere else." N-Hinata suggested. H-Naruto nodded.

* * *

Kakashi saw Kurenai be led away by Tsunade, wondering how she would take this. "Sorry Kurenai, I know you'll probably hate me for this, but I can't let you get in the way of their friendship just because you had a bad experience." He said to himself.

Kurenai heard this and turned an angry eye at the masked jounin. "Damn right I hate you now! Not that I ever liked you to begin with you smug porn addict! And how dare you say it was just a bad experience? It was hell for me!"

Undaunted, Kakashi closed his eye. "Yes, it was a _very_ bad experience. I will never deny you that. But you're so afraid it's going to happen again you're seeing signs of it where it doesn't exist."

"What is this 'it' you're referring to?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi wasn't sure how to answer. "Something that happened when we were younger."

(Flashback)

_The Third Great Ninja War was terrible. It was now a child's war. So many of the brave ninja who risked their lives in battles were barely out of the academy. Forced to switch from throwing kunais at wooden targets to human flesh. Parents often had been forced to bury empty coffins, because there was nothing left to put in the box._

_Most of the war was being fought between Konoha and Iwa. The two sides seemed hellbent on annihilating the other. Skirmishes between groups ended up as bloody massacres, no quarter was given or pity shown._

_This was no war… this was butchery and brutality, and each day it only got worse and worse. It felt like there was no chance of this war ending without one side being completely wiped out by the other._

_Lines on maps were constantly changing. One day one side seemed to be gaining ground only to be pushed back the next day. Landscape and terrain once so familiar had become unrecognizable due to devastation caused by jutsu._

_Yesterday, a report came to Konoha; a group of Leaf ninja had been captured and taken to a former estate of a noble of the Land of Fire, which was now being used as an HQ for the enemy forces in the land._

_The Hokage ordered an immediate rescue of this group. Scrounging up a few reserve members he placed the only senior member available as their leader, Kakashi himself._

_Of course in recent months he had grown accustomed to his new name, Kakashi of the Sharingan. He had received one of the eyes from a close friend and fallen comrade, and he had promised to use that eye to protect others. So far he had kept his promise. Though there had been many members of the Uchiha clan who demanded that the eye be removed from Kakashi, since he was not of Uchiha blood. However he told them very clearly that they would take it from him when they pried it from his cold dead socket._

_That kept most of them at bay, though he had gotten into the habit of sleeping with one eye open, both on the battlefield and at home, just in case._

_Right now, he and his team were moving at a fast pace, through the shadows of the night. Though he used the term team very loosely. These were kids, graduates from the academy that was spitting out new soldiers for the battlefield each month._

_And they seemed to get younger and younger each time. Kakashi worried there would be no children left before the end of the year, or worse the academy would become unnecessary and kids would become shinobi before they could even start the program._

_But right now the future of children wasn't what the silver-haired shinobi was concerned about. Right now he had something more immediate to worry about._

_Breaking into the hideout had been fairly easy. There had been virtually no guards around the perimeter._

_The inside however was a completely different story. The moment they had entered alarms started to blare. The fight between the two sides had been brief but terrible. No casualties on the Konoha side but there were some very bad injuries that would need immediate treatment Kakashi ordered the squad to remain where they were._

_He found the prisoners being held in the cellar, many of them were in pretty bad shape. Iwa ninjas had a nasty reputation for using torture on their prisoners. However, it was not until he had released the last one did he realize that one was missing._

_He quickly learned from the others that she had been taken away about an hour ago before Kakashi arrived, somewhere upstairs. Kakashi ran off before they had even finished the sentence._

_"Kurenai!" Kakashi shouted as he kicked open the last door in the hideout, and came to an immediate halt at what he saw, both his eyes wide._

_Kurenai was completly naked, her body pale her hair matted down with sweat and blood covered her young body, not all of it her own._

_In front of her was the body of an Iwa ninja, a much older male in his late 30's or early 40's. He was lying on the ground with a large pool of blood pooling underneath him from the various stab wounds on his chest. His eyes were wide open with a look of frozen shock on his face._

_Kurenai just stood there, her hands wrapped around a kunai as her body shook violently._

_Kakashi took a hesitant step forward. "Kurenai?" He said softly._

_Suddenly her head jerked to side and she stared at him with her red eyes, eyes filled with fear, hate, and rage._

_"Kurenai, it's me. Kakashi. I am here to rescue you." He said as he held up his arms to show he had no weapons. "You know me, I'm that bastard from the academy."_

_"Ka… Kakashi?" She said softly, the kunai still pointed at him._

_"Yes, it's me. It's alright, I am taking you home." He said as he took a step forward, only for her to take a step back._

_"Kurenai, put the kunai down. It is all over." Kakashi said, speaking slowly and calmly. He then slowly reached out and offered his hand. "Give me the kunai."_

_She continued to stare at him, but the look of hate and rage left her eyes, leaving only the fear. Slowly she reached over to hand him the kunai. The weapon becoming loose in her grip but then the kunai slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. Her whole body started to sway, she was about to fall over._

_Kakashi quickly ran forward and caught her before that could happen. "It's alright, I got you. Kurenai what did they-?"_

_Suddenly he paused, the facts clicked together, naked girl, older man with his pants around his ankles and a locked room._

_"Oh Kami-sama, Kurenai… did they-?"_

_The young girl gripped Kakashi's clothing tightly as tears started to flow down her cheeks. __She passed out, unable to answer, and Kakashi wasn't sure if he should be relieved or not she couldn't say it._

_Kakashi heard something small bounce on the floor, and saw a time-release smoke bomb rolling his way. On instinct he got outside as quick as he could with Kurenai just before an explosion happened, filling the room with what he assumed was some poisonous gas._

_"Someone was waiting for me to show up and rescue her." Kakashi realized, getting madder. He put Kurenai down by a tree. "Show yourself you monster!" He announced to whoever was waiting in the shadows. A few darts were thrown at him, but Kakashi substituted with a log to avoid the hit. He didn't stay hidden long in case this guy used the opportunity to take Kurenai back. And when he came back out, he had his sharingan out._

_"So you finally show it. Good, I was hoping to see it in action while you were here." The mystery person said before appearing, wearing a blue poncho with a hood to conceal their identity. "Though to be honest I had been hoping another kunoichi would show up to save her instead of a guy. Just my luck."_

_"I know that voice." Kakashi said, surprised by the familiarity. "You were responsible for this?"_

_"Dang, I thought you wouldn't catch that." The guy said before removing his hood, revealing a man's face with green eyes and messy short brown hair that wasn't really spiked. Nothing about him really marked him as unique, but he was a face Kakashi had seen before. "Guess your ears haven't been dulled by your eyes."_

_"Sanchiro, what is the meaning of this? How could you do this to Kurenai? You know what she thought of you." Kakashi asked, appalled that the man that had been Kurenai's interest since the Academy would betray her like this and in a war ground nonetheless._

_"I didn't want it to be her, but I needed an offering right away and she was available. What choice did I have? It was either her or me. Would you let yourself be raped?"_

_Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Don't speak like you were trapped into an ultimatum. If that were true you would have brought Kurenai back to Konoha rather than wait for someone to show up and ambush them. Or did you think I'd forget you just said you were hoping for another girl to show up."_

_Sanchiro frowned. "That's what I always hated about you Kakashi, you're too damn perceptive." Pulling out a sword he charged at Kakashi, hoping to find an opening. Kakashi armed himself with just a kunai and charged as well, making Sanchiro smirk victoriously. _

_The two clashed and swung their weapons, then stood apart with their backs to each other. Kakashi fell down with a cut on his left side that was bleeding badly but not fatally. Sanchiro stood with the kunai embedded in his leg. "Really Kakashi, you thought a kunai was going to beat me?"_

_"Wasn't... trying to beat you." Kakashi wheezed._

_"Then what were you trying to do?" The brown-haired blue-cloaked ninja taunted, removing the kunai from his leg._

_All of a sudden he got his answer, in the form of a yellow flash. Minato Namikaze appeared and quickly scoped out the scene, seeing his student on the ground, an unconscious kunoichi by a tree, and a Leaf nin standing over Kakashi with a bloody sword._

_"Yo-Yondaime-sama?" Sanchiro asked in fear, then noticed the kunai. 'The kunai! It must have a Hiraishin seal on it. But I thought Yondaime-sama only used tri-kunais for that jutsu, never normal kunai.'_

_"Shut up traitor." Minato said, using a rasengan to punish the traitor and send him crashing into a rock. He would live, but only for the sake of the T&I department, not because he deserved it._

(End Flashback)

"Remember Kurenai I was the one to rescue you, bring you back home, and arranged for you to get the help you needed to recover." Kakashi reminded her. "Yes a man hurt you, but another man helped you, so don't judge us all the same."

"I remember what happened perfectly that night." Kurenai said, her voice filled with bitterness. She could remember it with near perfect detail. She could not forget what happened that night, no matter how much she wanted to forget.

"I suspect you are experiencing some sort of relapse now, and you're not helpful to your student in that state of mind."

"I'm not relapsing." Kurenai argued.

"If that's true then you have nothing to fear from seeing a doctor." Tsunade stated. "And since I am one, we can get this settled right here and now." Though in reality she could have easily ordered Kurenai to comply. But in this case it would be much better if she agreed voluntarily.

"I'm telling you there's nothing wrong with me. Is it wrong to protect a girl's virtue?" Kurenai asked.

"In that case Kurenai which one are you concerned about? The girl in mind or the girl in body?" Tsunade asked back. "Which is it you're afraid of? That Naruto's going to deflower Hinata's body, or that Hinata's going to get a boy's sex drive while she is a boy's body with boy hormones?"

Rather than answer, Kurenai hung her head as if defeated or saddened. "Why is this happening now? Why does she have to be so interested in a boy this young? I thought she was better than this, better than those airhead fangirls who think with their hormones and princess fantasies rather than listen to the voice of experience. Why is she in a hurry to grow up?" The entire time she spoke she sounded like she was restraining a sob.

"Is that what this is really about?" Kakashi asked, but Kurenai didn't respond. "Kurenai, Hinata is not a child. She is going to become an adult whether or not you're ready for her to do so. And adults get adult thoughts and urges, be they man or woman. Hinata having a crush on Naruto isn't making her a fangirl. Trust me, I have a bonafide practically certified fangirl on my team and Hinata could not be more unlike her."

"What do you know about Hinata?" Kurenai asked, still refusing to look at anyone.

"You think you're the only non-Hyuuga who's interacted with the girl? I've spoken to her before not too long ago." Kakashi claimed.

(Flashback)

_It was a sunny afternoon one day and Naruto was out in a training field by himself. Sasuke was away being training exclusively by Kakashi for the chuunin exam finals, Sakura was off doing who-knows-what making it clear he wasn't invited, and Jiraiya currently needed to see Sarutobi about something._

_'At least I finally summoned a toad and gained their approval. And not just any toad, the big boss toad and partner to Yondaime-sama himself.' Naruto thought with enthusiasm, at this point in time still in his own body. Now he was practicing taijutsu in preparation for fighting Neji in the upcoming weeks._

_He was so into it that he was unaware he has an observer. Hinata watched him with interest from behind a tree. 'Naruto-kun, you're fighting Neji-niisan for me? You even swore to beat him for my sake?' She was going by what Shino had told her when she was recovering from Neji's attempted murder. She felt bad that Neji was in for a world of hurt, but she was so flattered Naruto was doing this for her. 'I bet you're not even thinking of becoming chuunin for that fight. You want it, but that's not your motive for winning. You're trying to right a wrong. You are so noble.'_

_"Why don't you go talk to him?" Some said behind her, making her eep and turn around frightened, only to see it was Kakashi. "Calm down, I'm just here to see how he's doing since Sasuke is resting now. Is he being taught well?"_

_Hinata slowly nodded. "I... I haven't s-seen everything, but he h-has this man with white hair and a red coat instructing him now. If I heard right then Na-Naruto-kun was able to summon the s-same toad Yondaime-sama was partnered with."_

_Kakashi looked at his student, who was unaware he had an audience. 'So he summoned Gamabunta even though he's still a genin? If he does well in the finals I ought to reward him with a more useful jutsu. Sure, summons are handy, but not in all situations.' "That's good, but why are you hiding? Are you afraid of him?"_

_"What? No, I could never be afraid of Naruto-kun." Hinata stated._

_"Then why not go up to him and say hi? He's not going to bite." Kakashi suggested._

_"I... I can't. I don't want to distract him."_

_"Then offer to train with him. He's going against a Hyuuga soon and he could benefit from having experience in fighting your style."_

_Hinata looked away. "I'm on doctor's orders not to train with others for a little while longer. W-watching him is all I can do."_

_"You can encourage him. Let him know how you feel about the fact he's fighting on your behalf in all this." Kakashi offered._

_Hinata poked her fingers together. "I'm... what if I stutter too much and he can't understand me and decides I'm not worthy fighting for anymore?"_

_"You really think Naruto is that shallow?" Kakashi questioned._

_"What? No, of course not. Naruto-kun is a noble caring boy who'd never abandon someone just because they're not perfect." Hinata defended._

_"Then why are you so afraid of him rejecting you if you're certain he won't?"_

_Hinata swallowed nothing, as if trying to keep back something. "Because I'm afraid of if he _does_ reject me. If he does, if he told me he didn't care, I'd have nothing left to hope for."_

_Kakashi put his hand on her head. "Well Hyuuga-san, if he didn't care he wouldn't have sworn to avenge you now would he?" She gained a look of realization and hope and he smiled. "You matter to him, and maybe he doesn't return your affections yet, that doesn't mean you can't earn them. But if you ever want to be happy with him, you're going to have to make a stand someday. I imagine you don't want to spend the rest of your life just watching him after all."_

_With that Kakashi left, giving the girl an opportunity to act. Tempted, Hinata's shyness won over and she continued to watch while being unseen. 'Someday Naruto-kun, I'll be brave enough to tell you what I feel. I'm just not ready right now.'_

(End Flashback)

"If Hinata was like Sakura she'd be all over Naruto getting in his way while trying to make herself the center of his attention." Kakashi told the genjutsu mistress. "But she doesn't do that. She's too shy to even try."

"Shy types are the ones men love to take advantage of the most." Kurenai rued.

"Kurenai, if Naruto wanted to take advantage of her wouldn't he have been able to do so already? Even before the body-swap?" Tsunade asked.

"He was fixated on the Haruno girl who had the intelligence to tell him no. Once he realizes Hinata's an option he's going to turn his eyes on her." Kurenai explained.

"While she's a boy and he's a girl?" Kakashi asked.

"He can still take advantage of her, regardless of the gender roles in the bodies done."

Kakashi narrowed his eye, running out of patience with her insistence that Naruto intended to hurt Hinata. "And what about her two teammates? Surely by now you realize they don't intend to rape Hinata. Why can't you give Naruto the benefit of the doubt? What is your _real_ problem with him?"

Kurenai frowned but refused to speak.

"You might as well answer the question now Kurenai since Inoichi will get it out of you later today anyway. Admitting it yourself will earn you back at least some credibility." Tsunade advised.

"You want to know what my problem is? After all my advice and help for her Hinata's throwing all my teaching out the window and basing her self-esteem on the opinion of a boy. A boy that was trained by two perverts, is barely supervised, and harasses another girl who clearly told him no several times yet he refuses to take no for an answer. Who knows what that boy will do to Hinata if he finds out she actually wants his affections?"

"First, I take offense to being called a pervert. Second, You really think the moment a guy finds out a girl is sweet on him that all he can think about is getting into her pants?" Kakashi asked. "If that was true then how do you explain Sasuke? If he acted the way you say he should then Sakura wouldn't be a virgin anymore. Feel free to check her gynecological records if you think I'm wrong."

All active kunoichi were required bi-monthly gynecological exams. Standard health regiment, especially for genin to ensure none had been sexually abused but were hiding it.

"Actually Kakashi, I don't think it's just that." Tsunade suggested. "The first person she criticized just now was Hinata, not Naruto. I think she's mad at her own student too, not just your own."

"Why would I be mad at Hinata?" Kurenai asked.

"Maybe because she's showing independence from you and you clearly don't like why. And even though you know you should support her you can't bring yourself to do it. Not when it involves being close to a boy." Tsunade concluded.

"I... I'm trying to help her." Kurenai insisted. Why was that so hard for them to understand? She was only looking out for Hinata, just like she had always been looking out for her since the day she became her teacher.

"Then help her by stop acting like a paranoid zealot." Kakashi declared. "She became an adult the moment she graduated from the academy. Stop treating her like a child."

"I am not!" Kurenai said, almost yelled.

"Then prove it. Submit to a simple psychological evaluation. It will take two hours at the most. If there is nothing wrong then you have nothing to worry about." Tsuande said very calmly. Though there was a hidden look behind her eye, suggesting that something bad would happen if she refused this request.

Kurenai's eyes darted back and forth between Kakashi and Tsunade, she kept clenching and unclenching her hands as she thought over everything in her mind. Finally after a long moment she let out a long sigh and nodded "Fine."

"Now was that so hard?"


End file.
